
Class CTa/lS * 
Book .H 5515^3 
Copyright^ - 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



/ 




W. W. HANDLIN. 






<5!?i5 bool( i$ respectful !y 
Dedicated to myself. 



WILLIAM 



KY W. TT. HAJNDLX]^, 



author of 1 

'ajiericax politics." 




NEW ORLEMS: 

Paul J. Sendker Printing Co., Ltd., 

335 earondelet Street, 

1901. 



. 



THE U3RARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

Two Copit3 Received 

NOV. 13 1901 

COPYRIGHT ENTRY 

CLASS tf^XXa No. 
COPY 3. 



CT2L75 



COPYRIGHTED AUGUST 21, 190I, 
BY THK AUTHOR. 



i Franciscus de verulamio sic cogitavit" 



New Orleans, La., Oct. 24, 1898. 
Mrs. E. A. Page, 

Dear Madam : — I send you a sketch of 
New Orleans, showing where my 51 lots 
lie. I have not the least doubt that they 
will be worth double what I ask in a short 
time. This city is on the up grade. We 
had a bad yellow fever scare last year. 
Then the war came. This year the scare was 
not so bad, and the fever was no worse than 
measles. But New Orleans is destined to 
be a great city. It will get the trade of our 
new Spanish possessions, Cuba and Porto 
Rico. In this letter I will open my heart: 
You have no idea how I have suffered, and 
still suffer, for want of a little money to pay 
even bread bills. It seems that the Cleve- 
land administration made times very hard 
here and money very scarce. We have 



property enough, but you cannot send your 
house to market. 

The high tariff of McKinley is making 
things lively with you, but with us, day- 
light is onty just beginning. In 1892, un- 
der McKinley 's first high tariff, I made 
more money in one year than I had made 
in ten years before, which enabled me to 
take a trip through all Europe in 1893. 
As a client of mine in the estate of } 7 our 
brother, Captain David Remberger, 3^ou 
might recommend me as a lawyer to Rob- 
ert Lincoln. That is all; it is not worth 
while to state the reason now. 

With all my troubles, I thank God that 
He has raised me a good friend and well 
washer in you. My own early life in Ken- 
tucky was not unlike that of Mr. Lincoln's 
immortal father. My father was the owner 
of six hundred acres of land, on which there 
was a pretty large farm. Of course, I did 
all sorts of work, and got my education the 
best I could, working to pay my way in col- 



lege a while, as my father had five other 
children. They are all dead now, but the 
widow Margaret Worten and myself. She is 
very comfortable on a farm in Livingston 
county, Kentucky. This train of thought 
makes me remember something of my first 
cogitations about God and justice. When 
I was just big enough to sit on a horse, my 
father, who was a good and honest man, 
sent me with a bag of corn to Jesse Martin's 
water-mill, about six miles away. When I 
got to the farm of one Sullivan, I asked him 
and another man who were working near 
the road, to- tell me the way. The farmer, 
seeing me so small, took great pains to 
kindly tell me how to go, which made me 
feel thankful in my heart. The dog, Guess, 
followed me, and soon after I left Sullivan, 
he took after a gang of hogs in the woods, 
but I called him off. When I got a good 
distance further on, the dog took after an- 
other gang of hogs, and I let him go. My 
reasoning faculties began to work, and I 



— 8 — * 

felt very much alone and near to my Ma- 
ker. When I got home, I told my father 
that I would not let Guess run the first 
hogs, because I thought they belonged to. 
the good man who told me the way, but I 
let hinrrun the others because they were so 
far away that I thought they belonged to 
some one else. My father laughed a good 
deal. 

When I look around and look back on 
rather a long life and see how things have 
come to pass in this world , and how little I 
understand and have understood of it all, I 
am filled with unspeakable wonder. When 
studying law, an old doctor (Gilliam) said 
to me: "William, always stand on princi- 
ple, not policy ;" and Henry Clay said he 
would rather be "right than President." 

This machine, run by air in the place of 
steam, would stop, and all life on the globe 
would end, were it not for the air. How 
wonderful and incomprehensible creation 
is! May it not be? Quien sabef That, 



— 9 — 

as some philosophers held, the earth is one 
whole, living being, no part of which is lost 
forever, neither spirit nor body? Where 
am I at? When a boy in Marion, Ken- 
tucky, I commenced speaking German with 
some Jewish merchants. Afterwards, with 
Ollendorff and a German dictionary, I 
translated many German stories, and some- 
thing of Goethe and Schiller, finding the 
comedies much easier than the tragedies. 
But there is always something to learn in 
German, — it is very hard; whereas in Span- 
ish and French there seems to be a limit 
which can be mastered. A pilot in the har- 
bor of Bremer Haven remarked to me: 
i c Uebung macht den Meister. ' ' I translated 
the whole of Schiller's u Don Carlos," a chef 
cPoeuvre, where the hero fell in love with his 
step-mother, a very rare thing. When 
sixty-three, I thought I would not bother 
with any new languages, having gotten 
along well in Germany and France, but 
going out of St. Peter's one morning, I 



— 10 — • 

stopped to get some milk in a restaurant, 
and could not make myself understood. 
They brought me eggs. I should have 
said latte (pronounced latty.) This caused 
me to commence, and after I got home I 
read all of the plays of Mestastacio, — an 
Italian Shakespeare, — in five or six vol- 
umes, at the Tulane library. The way to 
learn a language is to be where it is spoken 
and to read novels with dialogues and con- 
versations. But there is not much profit in 
being a linguist. It is a sort of infatua- 
tion, a curiosity, rather an inferior grade 
of learning, not comparable to philosophy, 
history, chemistry, law or medicine. At 
the same time it is a pleasure and very use- 
ful to a gentleman of fortune and leisure, 
who can afford to travel. That is the thing. 
I am thankful indeed for the competency I 
have, but if the Goddess, Fortune, had giv- 
en me enough to spend the summers in oth- 
er parts, away from the mosquitos in New 
Orleans, I should feel better satisfied. That 



— 11 — 

is about as far as I envy the millionaires; 
but many of them, poor creatures, are too 
much absorbed in the care of money to 
know the good of it. 

My course at Cumberland College (long 
since gone out of commission) at Prince- 
ton, Kentucky, was limited to one year. I 
studied geometry, trigonometry, and sur- 
veying in Davies' Legendre; was first in 
my class, and was called upon in the exam- 
ination to demonstrate the Pons Assinorum . 
Professor Freeman, in starting us in Ge- 
ometry, said it was the best course of logic. 
Being a big young man, with a previous 
start, I was able to keep up with two Latin 
classes — Ovid and Virgil. When over for- 
ty years of age, I found time to translate 
all of that remarkable work, Caesar's Com- 
mentaries, with the Belli Civili Romano- 
runt; and when in the practice of law in 
New Orleans, my friend, E. K. Washing- 
ton, the author of travels, learned me to 
read Greek. 



— 12 — 

I now speak, read and write, more or less 
correctly, five living languages. While 
still young, in the city of Mexico, when 
Gadsden was minister, I graduated in the 
Castillian Grammar, at the head of the 
class, and was called upon to parse at the 
exhibition. The}^ gave me the large dic- 
tionary of the Spanish Academy, which 
was afterwards lost among the filibusters in 
Nicaragua. Having studied law in Span- 
ish for some time, I turned my attention to 
Spanish literature, and read many of the 
principal works of Cervantes and Lesage, 
which I had read before in English. I had 
a beautiful illustrated edition of Gil Bias, 
in 7 volumes, printed in Madrid over ioo 
years ago, which I have since given 
to a niece who studied Spanish. At a bull 
fight, Zorrillo, the poet, was pointed out to 
me. The newspapers printed an interview 
in which he said: "For donde'quiere que 
yo vaya, canto" (I sing wherever I go.) 
Years afterwards I fell upon a very long 



— 13 — 

epic poem of his, in which an old physician 
was the hero. He made him out a very 
good and very learned man. The doctor 
treated rich and poor alike, and took what- 
ever they gave him, and if he found no 
towel he wiped his face on the sheet. 

While in Mexico I boarded in a French 
hotel, and we generally stayed at dinner an 
honr, where I heard nothing but French; 
so getting an Ollendorff method, I was 
soon able to commence reading Les trois 
mousquetaires, vingt apres, etc., which I 
hired from a library. A pretty play of 
Dumas is La vielle tour de Nesle. After- 
wards, I went through the whole range of 
French literature — Eugene Sue, Victor Hu- 
go, Volney, Voltaire, Corneille, Thiers 
and others, greatly to my gratification. 
The Henriade of Voltaire is a most charm- 
ing work, but I think I enjoyed most Le 
Consulat et V Impire, of Thiers. I had 
read his French Revolution in English. 
My old friend, Judge Duvigneaud, lent me 



— 14 — 

a fine edition in nineteen volumes of the 
easiest print, and I finished them. He 
said it was a romance. But in this respect 
my mother-in-law did not agree with the 
judge. She used to say, whenever Napo- 
leon came upon the tapis, "Ak, le monstre, 
le gredzn, le bucherf" And I must say, 
aside from admiration of the genius of the 
warrior, that I think she was about right. 
After Attila, perhaps the human race has 
not had a greater scourge than Napoleon. 
Thiers reported in his history of Le Consu- 
lar et L? Lmpire, that when Napoleon was 
at the zenith of his power, the prevailing 
thought was glory, but when fortune left 
him, Tallyrand turned to the rising sun of 
the Bourbons and labored assiduously to 
inform the people that they had had enough 
of glory and that it was time to turn their 
attention to Legitimite . 

The most striking thing about Attila was 
the burning of all his baggage in one great 
heap after his defeat in France. It makes 



— 15 — 

me think that when we are ready to make 
our final retreat into that great beyond, 
that we shall put our little mundane things 
into a similar heap and set them on fire. 
In this respect the civilization of Rome was 
superior to our own. I am an advocate of 
purification, cremation. How like a ma- 
chine, a watch or a clock, is the body of 
man! Man's life, by "the pencil of the 
Holy Ghost," is wound up more or less to 
the period of seventy years. The heart 
beats all that time, and when it ceases the 
man stops. But in this one thing nature 
is uniform. Every created thing needs 
and has a heart to beat the diapasson of 
life, and man cannot claim in this exclu- 
siveness, though he may claim for himself 
a "sole exclusive heaven." 

Sallust said two thousand years ago: 
u Ever y man who wishes to distinguish 
himself from the other animals ought to la- 
bor not to pass his life in obscurity, and, 
as life is so short, he ought to strive to 



— 16 — 

leave a long remembrance." jOjala! that 
this poor letter of mine might live two 
thousand years. 

In concluding this review, my dear 
madam, I must confess to you that my love 
of books, coupled with the prejudice of 
others against them, has caused me many 
a good scolding. The only excuse I can 
offer for the garrulity of an old man is 
what the Master said about hiding a light 
under a bushel; and so, madam, I must 
restrain myself from further intellectual 
pyrotechnics. 

Farewell. 

W. W. Handun. 



— 17 — 

Berlin, Germany, Aug. 14, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

We sailed on the Akaba, at 12:30 p. m., 
July 19th, 1893; length 356 feet, draft 24 
feet, cargo 3000 tons, dead weight 5000 
tons. It took $3,000 to load her; when the 
tug pulled her bow off, she looked grand and 
appeared to reach half across the river. We 
passed the sugar plantations of Gov. War- 
moth and Bradish Johnson and the rice 
and orange place of Pat Lyons on 
the right, and Point a la Hache, the county 
seat of Plaquemines Parish, on the left. It 
was too late to get out and we anchored at 
the head of the Passes. Next morning we 
went out South Pass . It is very narrow and 
crooked. On the third day we passed Key 
West, 500 miles out. In the night we pass- 
ed Aligator Reef, which has a funny light- 
house — three lights, one red and two white, 
which bob up and down alternately all night. 
Our voyage was very pleasant; the weather 



— 18 — 

was fine; we passed several whales and lots 
of flying fish. But it was too long to write 
fully about. I made notes, however. Going 
East we gained twenty minutes time every 
day and had to advance the clock. The 
chronometer on the ship was London time, 
six hours earlier than New Orleans. One 
hour from Greenwich, which is near London, 
going West, makes 800 or 900 miles, and 
that is the waj^ they know the longitude or 
distance West from Greenwich. 

It is 4687 miles from New Orleans to 
London, and 5300 miles to Bremen. The 
coal got dusty three days, and we only went 
150 miles a day, but we averaged 200 miles, 
and a few days, at first, with the gulf stream, 
we made about 300 miles in 24 hours. I ex- 
pect to be back about the first of October. 
The variations of the compass! We go 10 
degrees South of East by the compass, but 
in fact we are running several degrees North 
of East! We came East along between the 
Scorpion and the Dipper; we were so far 



— 19 — 

South at Cape Florida that the heart of the 
Scorpion appeared almost over our heads, 
but before we got to Bremen the Pole Star 
was so elevated that we were nearly under it. 
Bremen is about 56 degrees North latitude, 
while New Orleans is only 29 degrees. Day- 
light commences at 3 o'clock a. m., and it is 
not dark till 9. 

Here, there is too much to write about in 
a letter. I have been knocking about the 
streets, seeing the sights, and visiting the 
museums, and I have seen the Apollo Belvi- 
dere and the Crucifixion of St. Peter, by Ra- 
phael. Tomorrow I go to Potsdam and the 
Mausoleum at Charlottenburg. Then, off 
for Vienna, Rome and Naples, and back 
through Paris and London. 

How do you get along with Don Quixote? 
When college begins you will have no time 
to read it. Do } r ou forget anything on Sun- 
day? My health is good. I never missed 
a' meal, three times a day, 011 the voyage. 
But, about the channel, — some of them 



— 20 — 

missed me. It was a veritable u life on the 
ocean wave." My love to our Kentucky 
relatives . Good-bye . 

Your father, 

W. W. Handling 






Vienna, Austria. 
William, My Son: 

I must write you something about what I 
saw in Berlin. It is a great city. Ruhmes- 
Halle has all kinds of military inventions, 
and all kinds of ancient knights clothed in 
steel "cap a pie. ' ' The national gallery and 
the other museum I visited, are stored with 
celebrated works of art. There are all man- 
ner of statues and paintings. Think of a 
large painting by Reubens, of Hercules, or 
Bachus drunk with head hung down and sur- 
rounded by a gang of Bacchannalians and 
merry makers, male and female, little and 
big, and you may form some idea of how se- 



— 21 — 

rious and at the same time how laughable it 
looks. Some of the pictures are so life-like 
that they look like they might almost step 
down from the canvass and walk. 

There is Christ preaching in a boat on the 
sea, a little square canoe, and the people are 
sitting and leaning on the bank. Also a 
picture of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus, A 
large marble statue of Achilles dying, with 
an arrow in his heel, recalls one's classic 
lore. 

The Victory Column, Sieges-Saule, (pro- 
nounced zeeges zoila) and the dome of the 
new Parliament (Reichstag) House are cov- 
ered or gilded with pure gold, and I am told 
that the house will cost $25,000,000. 

The zoological garden is full of all nota- 
ble species of wild animals and birds, from 
the North Pole to the Capes Horn and Good 
Hope. There are some giraffes nearly half 
as high as our house. There are immense 
cages and dens, with convenient places for 
exercise, air and sunshine. The garden is 



— 22 — 

a large, gently rolling forest, with lakes and 
ponds, of, I suppose, one or two hundred 
acres. 

Potsdam is the residence of the Emperor, 
about 12 or 15 miles from Berlin. I was ad- 
mitted to an audience with the Emperor. 
The Palace is the next station beyond Pots- 
dam, but I entered the Sans Souci Park, 
which extends from the end of Potsdam to 
the Palace. The mausoleum of his father, 
Frederick, is at the entrance. It is most 
grand. It is a large room with a pictured 
dome. In the center, about 5 feet high, is 
the marble, life-size body of Frederick, laid 
out in death. The forehead is highly intel- 
lectual. On the right there is a magnifi- 
cent altar, with a life-size marble statue of 
Christ, laid out, and the Virgin Mother 
leaning over. On each side of this altar 
is the bust of a young prince. 

The Park of Sans Souci contains, I sup- 
pose, two hundred acres of great forest and 
linden trees, laid out with beautiful flowers, 



-23- 

walks, and a great number of statues. I 
strolled to the center, where there is a large 
pond surrounded by marble and filled with 
red fish; and, being tired, I rested. 

Then I went through a long central walk 
parallel with the railway, at the end of 
which I came to one of the gates of the 
Palace grounds, guarded by a sentinel. I 
had some difficulty to enter. It is necessa- 
ry, perhaps, to prevent intrusion by too 
many visitors, to take precautions; but I had 
previously sent n^card, and after going to 
one or two other gates, and waiting awhile, 
a squad of six soldiers and a corporal came 
and I went with them about two squares 
when I was turned over to an armed officer 
with whom I went about two hundred j^ards 
and entered the office of the Palace where 
there was a gentleman who appeared to be a 
private secretary. After some parley with 
him the same officer conducted me back 
through the entrance around to the side of 
the Palace, where in a rather small office- 



— 24 — 

looking building I was presented to the Em- 
peror. I stated that I was traveling, and 
had called to make a little visit and pay my 
respects to him. 

He is rather a young man and fine look- 
ing. He said he does not speak English, 
though I think he does. He said very lit- 
tle. I did most of the talking; but he has a 
large fine head, which I judge to be full of 
sense. He told me he had been visited late- 
ly by Mr. Clemens (Mark Twain,) and he 
was very polite and courteous. Upon the 
whole, I was very much pleased with my 
visit. The place looks grand and stately, 
but I think somewhat lonely, and I doubt 
much if the Emperor of all Germany is more 
happy than we are, considering the cares of 
such an empire. 

So, my son, as Solomon said, "The dili- 
gent man shall stand before kings." 

With my knowledge of German, I got 
along very well everywhere. 

I suppose you will be going back to Col- 



— 25 — 

lege at New Orleans soon. 

I traveled all last night, and am tired; so 
I think I shall sleep awhile here and then 
see the pictnres. 

I hope to hear from you at Rome. Then 
I go to Naples, and back through Paris and 
London and home to New Orleans. 
Good-bye. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handlin. 
August 19, 1893. 



Venice, Italy, August 23, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I must now write you what I saw in 
Vienna. 

The spire of the Cathedral is four hundred 
and twenty-eight feet high. I attended high 
mass at 9 o'clock. At ten I was conducted 
to the church of the Dominican Convent 
near by, and heard a most eloquent sermon 



— 26 — 

in German. The preacher had a strong 
Italian cast of features. My host was my 
guide. I have plenty to tell you about him. 
He is a regular Sancho Panza. It seems I 
have the luck to find the people and places 
I need everywhere. 

The Cathedral is a very long and wide 
church, but the entrance, say half, is cut off 
by large iron gates, and seems to be a gath- 
ering place. Seven immense columns on 
each side, with arches, stand about one-fifth 
of the width from the side walls, and extend 
the whole length of the church; and on the 
altar side of those large iron gates those 
arches are connected so as to divide the 
church into, three churches with an altar in 
each, but an arch on each side near the al- 
tar is left open, which forms two great doors 
connecting the whole. 

The Cathedral is grand and majestic, but 
the ceiling is not painted and frescoed, and 
for beauty of coloring and delicately framed 



— 27 — 

windows it is not equal to our own Jesuit's 
Church in New Orleans. 

In a street near by, I was shown a slim 
monumental spire, forty or fifty feet high, 
in commemoration of the Holy Ghost. It 
is full of heads and representations on the 
sides, looking rather ragged, which I sup- 
pose are the apostles, or the people upou 
whom the Holy Ghost descended, but I had 
no time to examine or inquire. 

In a large wide place, or street, is seated 
a large majestic statue of Maria Theresa, 
the celebrated Austrian Queen. There is a 
fine State park, very beautiful. 

Vienna, w T hich they write Wien, and pro- 
nounce veen, is a very fine city, and the 
places of interest are central and easy of ac- 
cess. The houses are four, five, and six 
stories high, and they have flats, like in 
New York. 

Where I stopped, the water when fresh 
was good to drink and clear, and they told 
me it was brought by an acqueduct. But 



— 28 — 
they were astonished to see me drink water, 
and offered me something to drink every- 
where, which I politely declined a la M(ji- 
cana, with "No, Senor, gracias." 

One young fellow in the cars was so tak- 
en with me and my German that he would 
not be denied, so I was forced to take a 
swallow out of his bottle, which tasted like 
some sort of whiskey, but luckily it did not 
make my head swim. 

I forgot something about the Cathedral: 
At the usual time the brother collector, 
dressed in plain red, with a cap, came 
along. He had a long painted cup, a little 
bigger than a vichy bottle, with the bottom 
turned up, upon the top of which was a slot 
and on the bottom, a little extended, there 
was an ornamental knot. This cup was at- 
tached to the bent end of a stick, two 
branches of which went over a rivet causing 
the cup to swing. Very few put anything 
into the cup, but whenever anyone did give 
anything the brother very humbly said, 



— 29 — 

44 Gratia!" I put a kreuzer in the cup, but 
before the mass was over, along came an- 
other collector from one of the sides, so I 
put in another kreuzer just to hear him say 
44 Gratia. " And I believe if twenty had 
come along I would have put in a kreuzer 
every time. I had my pockets full of the 
things. It was only a half cent. 

I am getting along so well, and feel so 
much at home, that I begin to look with no 
little contempt on the dread I formerly en- 
tertained of a trip to Europe. You can 
spend as much, and as little, almost, as 
you please. One pair of new American 
black jeans pants will do me the whole trip, 
and, well brushed, they are respectable 
enough and warm enough in Germany, 
where some wear overcoats in the middle of 
August, and not too hot in Italy. Then, 
with a New Orleans fifty-cent dark calico 
sack, an alpaca vest, and a cent white cra- 
vat, you are quite a dude in Europe. How- 
ever, should you grow as tall as I am, } r ou 



— 30 — 

ought not to go too shabby, or you might 
be taken for an English lord traveling in- 
cognito. By the way, in the middle of Vi- 
enna my guide pointed out an immense 
house of iron, five stories high, belonging 
to some great Englishman. 

In traveling, all you have to do is to say 
"ja" to everything. It is better to submit 
and not get angry, even if you are a little 
wronged, and have no dispute about any- 
thing less than a dollar, for a dollar 
will hardly pay to get angry. I had two 
"jaws" from Berlin to Vienna, and the 
first time I came off victor, though I had a 
tough old German to deal with. He was a 
peddler, and while waiting at the depot, I 
looked at his things in a basket, and picked 
up something I thought was a whistle, but 
when I put it in my mouth to blow it, he 
considered it sold, and wanted to compel me 
to buy it. It was only two cents and one 
half, but when I found it was a cigar holder 
I refused to take it, as I do not smoke. He 



— 31 — 

appealed to the police, and I thought that 
I might have to have a trial of the case, but 
I explained it to the police, and an officer 
kept the whistle, which ended the matter. 
The other j*ow was with a conductor, who 
forced me to pay for baggage, w r hen I had 
my ticket, and had not done so before; so I 
would have my money, and got off the 
train. But it cost me more, for I was in 
Austria, arid made a mistake in getting on 
the wrong train. 

They speak about so many Americans 
traveling, but I only met one in Germany 
and Austria, and he was in the museum at 
Berlin. 

I hope what I saw in Vienna will interest 
you and be appreciated by you. I should 
have stayed another day to visit the muse- 
ums, but it was Monday, and for some rea- 
son or other, being a feast day I suppose, 
they were closed. No, it was cleaning up 
day. I was shown in a show-case window 



— 32 — 

a fine portrait of Francis Joseph, who ap- 
pears to be about seventy. 

In buying things, I pull out a handful of 
kreuzers and silver pieces, and tell them to 
help themselves, and they never abuse the 
privilege and never take too much. 

Coming out from Vienna I fell in with 
the engineer contractor of the acqueduct, a 
large, fat old man, who told me that his 
master was Gabrielli, the architect of Lon- 
don, — in broken English, of which he was 
very proud. I asked him how much he had 
made out of it, which was an indiscretion, 
and he answered that the whole work had 
cost 100,000 pounds ; but I pressed my 
question as to how much he had made, and 
he shook his sides and laughed and said he 
had eaten his part all up. I told him I was 
a lawyer, and that he must forgive me for 
asking questions, and then he laughed 
again. Further information informed me 
that the acqueduct came from the Alps, 
one hundred and forty English miles. 



— 33 — 

But what did I see in Vienna? Warten 
Sie einen Augenblick! Hier! Komme doch! 
The German is running in my head so that 
I almost dream in it, as I used to do in 
Spanish, when I learned it in Mexico. But 
German is not spoken here, and if it were 
I could not tell you in German, as there is 
too much of it. 

My Sancho was at fault about the Eng- 
lishman's house. Only ornamental parts 
are of iron, the rest is of stone and marble. 
The iron oak on the corners is a represen- 
tation of the great historical oak into which 
in old times every visitor drove a nail, and 
the house belonged not to an Englishman 
at all, but to the New York Life Insur- 
ance Co. 

Germany is a gently rolling country, 
susceptible of a high state of cultivation, 
and almost every foot seems to be utilized. 
From its age, it is necessary, and the land 
is systematically fertilized. Did I describe 
it before? 



— 34 — 

Approaching Austria, a little east of 
Dresden, going up the river Elbe, I struck 
the hills, large and treeless, something like 
Hardin's Knob, in Crittenden county, Ken- 
tucky. There are many short tunnels. 
Austria is more hilly than Germany. I 
saw places cultivated which were steeper 
than a straight stairway. But for miles 
around Vienna, there are vast well-lying 
fields. The people live in villages called 
Dorfer. 

A couple of thousand acres will be culti- 
vated by the people of one village; and ow- 
ing to the different owners the fields are di- 
vided into small strips and patches, giving 
pretty views from the different colors of the 
plants — sugar beets, buckwheat, oats, and 
other growths. 

The villages are something like the quar- 
ters on our large sugar plantations, but 
jumbled together. Fifty miles south of Vi- 
enna we struck the hills, and in the evening 
two Italians counted fourteen tunnels. I 



— 35 — 

don't know how many we passed in the 
night. Approaching Venice, the Tyrolean 
Mountains are on the right, and the wa- 
ters, bays, and inlets of the Adriatic Sea 
are on the left. 

Along there is the rockiest country I ever 
saw. The trip was twenty-five hours and 
all night. 

You must change your money on the line 
of every country, and get money of the 
country into which you go, but American 
gold is taken at all stations. Also, your 
carpet-bag is examined. 

So, good-bye. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handlin. 



— 36 — 

Rome, Italy, August 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I am impelled to write you what I saw in 
Berlin. However, I must state that in 
Vienna, nobody seemed to know where 
Venice is. They have two or three names 
for it, Venedig, pronounced "Vaynaydick," 
and another place somewhere in Hungary 
like it, so that when I went to the South 
Depot early, they sent me to another depot 
where I met an intelligent officer who sent 
me back to the South Depot. There, after 
pulling out my map (Cook's) on him, the 
ticket seller had to succumb, and I got off 
at one o'clock. 

While waiting at the depot in Berlin, I fell 
in with anltalian widow with such sparkling 
dark eyes as you never saw. She smoked her 
cigarette, and spoke several languages as 
well as German . We had a long conversa- 
tion, — she speaking Italian and I Spanish, 
and we were perfectly comprehensible. 
German is no longer spoken, and I have to 



— 37 — 

draw on my French and Spanish, rather 
Spanish, for when they have not studied a 
little French, Spanish is better. 

On arriving in Venice, I made my way 
through porters and gondolier men, stroll- 
ing along the very narrow alleys between 
high houses, which are necessary in this 
climate because they are cool, inquiring, 
"Do Rialto?" You may remember the 
clause in Shakespeare's Shylock, beginning 
"Oft on the Rial to." It is the same bridge, 
built in 1600, nearly 300 years old. It is 
stone and marble, and very durable. It is 
across water — the Grand Canal — probably 
150 feet wideband elevated, rising by a long 
stairway on each side, with low, easy, mar- 
ble steps, and frequent landings, and the 
top is only about thirty feet across. Then 
I went along inquiring for San Marco's 
Church. There I found a big, fat man, 
speaking French , who offered to show me 
the church for a franc, and I accepted his 
services. It is useless for me to attempt to 



— 38 — 

describe it. The whole New Testament 
history is represented by great pictures 
inside and outside. I supposed it was fres- 
coed, but was told it was mosaic. I frank- 
ly confess I never knew what mosaic meant 
before, having onty seen some floors with 
us of small pieces of colored marble. But 
it is marvelous, not to say miraculous. 
Think of all those great pictures of Christ 
and the saints being made out of small 
pieces, — the floor of marble, and the upper 
part pieces of glass of different colors. Ev- 
erything in Venice is mosaic; it is there a 
specialty. San Marco is a great square 
sort of a church, not divided, but with 
small marble pillars, — nothing like the Ca- 
thedral in Vienna in style of architecture. 
After kneeling and saying my prayers to 
Almighty God in the temple of worship, I 
strolled out with my heavy sack in the nar- 
row alleys, which are full*of fancy, dainty 
shops, to hunt a place to sleep. 

The water streets for gondolas, twenty or 



— 39 — 

thirty feet wide, are a little distant from 
each other, and about four feet below the 
banquette for foot passengers on the sides. 
I passed over a little bridge and entered a 
house. While I was trying to talk with 
the women, a gentleman came out speaking 
a little French, and he sent his servant girl 
with me to a ladj^, through two or three 
narrow passages, but the lady had no place. 
Then I went on by myself, and while I 
was talking with an old lady at a window, a 
little man stuck his head out of an opposite 
window and told me to come in. Upstairs 
he showed me a good room and bed. The 
beds were all too short, except in Venice. 
He was very full of talk, and after awhile 
he would go with me to a restaurant. After 
I had dined I wanted to go back to rest, 
but he wound me around, and directly we 
came upon San Marco, but I told him I had 
seen it, so he would have me to pass by the 
Ducal Palace, which stands out from San 
Marco, through which it is connected by a 



— 40 — 

great door, and fronts on the harbor, a very 
beautiful sheet of water, the Palace stand- 
ing on the back of the crescent. There we 
seated ourselves to rest, and see the people 
pass in the cool of the evening. It is very 
clean and well paved, about a hundred feet 
from the water, extending around an arc of 
a mile or two. There are a great many 
pretty, dark pigeons which light down in 
the square in front of San Marco, and are 
fed by the people throwing bread to them. 
Finally I got to the house, nearly dead; 
but the clean bed and sheets reminded me 
of the luxury of clean sheets described by 
Dumas in one of his French tales. 

Next morning at seven, the hour agreed, 
he rapped at the door crying out u Buon 
Giorno," — or something like it, for I don't 
write Italian, — but I was writing and would 
not let him in for an hour. When I opened 
the door he shook me by the hand and 
wanted to know how I slept, as they do in 
Spanish: "Como ha dormido V? n Then he 



— 41 — 

brought in his little girl, about like my 
Latelia, to say good morning. Poor thing ! 
I gave her' some coin when I left, and kissed 
her. Then he brought in his large poodle 
dog, with his bell and muzzle, to say good 
morning! He was so amiable that he 
wanted to dress me — said I was "bello" tall 
and wide. I could not move but he was 
there, and he would have my address to 
present to the authorities; in fact, by put- 
ting on all my good nature, I was able to 
stand it, and it was rather amusing. So 
far they are no more like the non-talkative, 
know-nothing, dago Italians we have in 
New Orleans than the children of the moon. 
They have large, square, Roman faces. 
Out we went to the quai, and had coffee in 
a shaded booth in front of the Ducal Palace. 
After waiting, and reading the papers for 
awhile, — as the Accidentia di Belle Arti 
does not open till ten, — he would take me 
upon the i 'giant stairway" to the second 
story of the Ducal Palace. There we 



— 42 — 

marched all around, and saw all the stat- 
ues and busts of all great Venetians — Marco 
Polo, Dante, and others; and the upper 
stories are full of historical paintings, but 
I reserved that for some future trip, per- 
haps, as there is not time enough to do ev- 
erything at once. If you want to read about 
Venice, you might read Byron's Doge and 
the Two Fascari. 

I kept saying u Academia," and my host 
guide wound round again, passing through 
St. Stephen's Church, that has one grand 
altar and twelve small ones. Then through 
another church with Doric columns. At 
last we crossed the Grand Canal on a 
bridge and came to the Academic Picture 
Gallery at half past ten. The statues are 
good, but I like the mellow light of the 
painters. It was closed. 

He took me round the building and 
was going, but I made him understand 
that I must go in. So, to my great relief, he 
left me. Well, I was two hours getting 



— 43 — 

around, cursorily, and I might go there a 
week if I had time. It is too great a task 
to particularize what I saw. 1 refer you to 
the Encyclopedia Britanica and the Ency- 
clopedia Americana, which you will find in 
the Tulane Library. 

A great statue of Hercules throwing Lu- 
cas into the sea is very remarkable; in his 
left hand he has the victim by one foot, over 
his head, and with his right hand he has 
the hair of his head behind. Both men are 
naked, and express intense pain and pas- 
sion. Then there is Titian's great "As- 
sumption," ten feet wide by twenty-five 
feet high. The colors are exceedingly 
bright and lovely. The Virgin is in the 
center surrounded by angels; the Apostles 
below, and the Eternal with Cherubim 
above. Then, by Ballin, there is the Mar- 
tyrdom of St. Sebastian, who is shot with 
arrows. But I must stop. I would fain 
have been silent, and would have preferred 
to have relegated you to books of trav- 



— 44 — 

el; but perchance what your father says 
will attract you more. 

" What I Saw in Europe" would be a 
very good title for a book, would it M not? 
No, thank you. I write no more books. 
One small one was quite enough. But I 
am afraid I will tire you with what I saw 
in Europe. 

In Germany and Austria the old fash- 
ioned apple trees, full of apples, which I had 
not seen for years, were very grateful to 
look upon, and the stunted Indian corn re- 
minded me of our own dear land. But the 
ears were what we called nubbins when I 
was a boy. I don't know what they call 
them now — they have so many new names. 
In Venice at dinner they gave me nice 
bread soup, and when I stirred it up, there 
was a fresh boiled egg at the bottom, — a 
thing I never saw before; and I have eaten 
all kinds of soup, even to an allowance of 
one plate a day of mule soup, in the siege of 
Granada, Nicaragua, as you have heard 



— 45 — 

me say. As to meats, they know nothing 
but "bifstek" and potatoes, which were 
good, but if I wanted anything else, I had 
to go to the kitchen and point it out, for 
they know not what vegetables mean. 

Finally, my last evening in Venice, I 
was tugged away by my everlasting guide 
on a long tramp to a fine garden to the left 
of the quai in front. I would rather have lain 
down on the floor to rest, but he said u Aria 
di mare! Salubre, molto salubre!" And when 
we got there the air was fine, sure enough. 
He took great pride in showing me at the 
entrance of the garden the statue of Gari- 
baldi and one of his soldiers. 

I saw other things in Venice, interesting 
enough, but I can tell you about them 
viva voce, should I recross the Atlantic in 
safety. 

Next morning, I was up at three o'clock 
to catch the train at half past four, but 
partly owing to the oificiousness of my 
guide, who would go with me, and partly 



— 46 — 

owing to my imperfect understanding of 
Italian, I was much detained in getting my 
ticket, so I missed the train one minute, 
and had to wait five hours; when, after a 
few smothered carrajos, I got off. 
So, good-bye. 
Your father, 

W. W. Handun. 



Rome, Italy, August, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

In leaving Venice, we turned gradually^ 
the left, through a flat, fertile country, the 
Tyrolean Hills always to the right in the 
distance. The vine is cultivated there. 
Furrows of small trees, about as large as 
peach trees, stand about ten feet apart and 
the vines swing between. Then, there is a 
space to the next two rows of one hundred 
yards, and so on — the spaces being planted 
in Indian corn, or cereals. This is nothing 



— 47 — 

like the California vineyards. There, great 
fields are planted, with vines standing twice 
as far apart as tobacco plants in Kentucky. 
The branches are cut off three or four feet 
from the ground, giving them an appearance 
of stout shrubs covered with great clusters 
of large grapes. 

About thirty miles from Venice we struck 
the hills and went through a long tunnel. 
Then we passed through alternate hills and 
valleys for about twenty miles, after which 
the hills disappeared, and we entered a 
flat country, well ditched, and cultivated in 
corn and something high like hemp. Also 
there was a small growth, with flowers of a 
bluish color, which I understood to be for 
some kind of salts. The ditches were a 
hundred yards apart, between rows of small 
willow and cottonwood trees. We crossed 
several canals and we passed over some 
elevated railroad, also. 

In Berlin and other cities the railroads are 
elevated, on banks twelve or fifteen feet 



— 48 — 

high. I was alone in a small, non-smoking 
compartment, with two flat seats reaching 
across the car, and a very nice lady from 
Florence. So, with the permission of the 
lady, I pnlled off my coat and stretched my- 
self ont, not to sleep bnt to rest. At half 
past two, we came to Bologna, at the 
edge of the hill on the right. There I had 
to wait for another train for an all night 
ride to Rome, a thing I fain wonld have 
avoided. 

Well, we got through the night on the 
cars quicker than you would think. It is a 
sort of stupid, half -wake, half -sleep drum- 
ming and banging one gets. Still, it was 
cooler, and the night was delightful. One 
night, up in Austria, I got very cold with 
my alpaca, because I wore it all the way 
from New Orleans. Here, the calico sack 
is sufficient. A charming young Venetian 
doctor, Mr. Leone Maestro, got on in the 
night. He is twenty -three years old, and 
goes to Rome to practice. He asked me all 



— 49 — 

sorts of questions, in very bad French, but 
he pleased me. 

We were to arrive in Rome at 7:30 a. m., 
and at 4:30, the stars yet shining, I was up 
to view the approach to Rome. We were 
probably 60 miles to the northwest. There 
was a little river on the left, with hills 
around, and but little land to cultivate. In 
half an hour we came to a better country, 
but scarcely any houses. At near six we 
passed Orte, a town on the hill to the left, 
and I knew we were in the Valley of the 
Tiber. I noticed some little trees planted, 
and the doctor told me they were Frumento, 
to make some sort of bread to eat. Still the 
stunted Indian corn was seen, and the 
grounds of the valley began to open out 
very lovely, with treeless hills on the sides. 
Some other little planted trees the doctor 
made me understand were to feed worms, 
and I suppose they were mulberry trees. 
Then I noticed on the gentle hillsides some 
very pretty orchards of bright, bunchy trees, 



— 50 — 

which I understood from him were for oil, 
and they must have been olive trees. In 30 
miles from Rome the valley spread out very 
wide with beautiful lands. Descending the 
Tiber from the northwest I failed to see the 
Roman Campagna, so much talked about, 
for there were grass, hay, shepherds and 
cattle close up to the city. The depot goes 
right into the edge of the city. 

In Rome we went down a wide, national 
street a few blocks, with five and six story 
houses on each side, to take breakfast, and 
to see my consul, Mr. Jones, from Florida. 
He would not be there till 10:30, when 
we went back to a house near the depot 
where the doctor was going to board, at the 
house of a lawyer. A couple of squares off, 
they sent me to the elevated flat of a widow 
lady , where I got a nice bed at a mod- 
erate rate. But what a bother ! In the 
streets we were beset with people; some boys 
would carry our packs for anything at all, 
and when we gave them something, they 



— 51 — 

wanted more. The young doctor went with 
me to find a room, and a servant man went 
along without being asked. When we got 
there, he wanted something. I was tired 
and refused. I like to give voluntarily, but 
don't like to be forced to do anything. The 
doctor tried to persuade me that it was the 
custom of the country; I told him I was a 
stranger and knew nothing. I went back 
to the Consulate about 12 m. I got your 
letter and one from Lulu. As to your in- 
quiry whether the old wall of Rome still ex- 
ists, the consul told me that the wall of 
Aurelian is almost entire. I refer you to 
the heads, "Rome" and "Aurelian" in the 
Encyclopedia, for correct information. 

At 12 the doctor came punctually with 
the young lawyer. I then found that he 
spoke better German than French, and 
thereafter we conversed in that horse lan- 
guage. We went by the New National 
Bank, a simple building, and jumped into 
a street car, passed Trajan's Pillar, and 



— o2 — 

crossed the Tiber on a great bridge, to St. 
Peter's. The Tiber, the doctor said, is be- 
tween 20 and 30 feet deep, yellow, and 
about as wide as the Cumberland. At two, 
we took a cab, at a half a franc apiece, and 
returned. When we got out we met the 
old law}^er, who laughed when he saw the 
amount of change, mostly copper, his son 
brought me for a five franc note. The old 
man bought a big handful of luscious figs 
for three cents, took a few, and gave me the 
rest. We then parted, to rest and sleep. 

Should you ever travel, I advise you not 
to refuse, but to scatter your centimes with- 
out stint; and in this you need not imitate 
me, for the people are very poor and it does 
not cost much. But it is hard to teach old 
men new things. I find I have been robbed 
at the stations. For a ten-dollar gold piece 
in Germany they gave me forty marks, and 
in Italy but thirty-eight; while for a two 
pound sterling note they gave fifty francs. 
But our cashier has given me the name of 



— 53 — 

a broker who will give me the worth of my 
gold. 

Jesus Christ said not to hide our light un- 
der a bushel, but to set it upon a hill. Thus 
I, in these letters, am trying to elevate my 
feeble light the best I can, so you can see 
clearly and learn something therefrom. You 
see how I have been bothered by not know- 
ing Italian, and that every language to a 
traveler makes him worth another man. 
Therefore, I hope you will get over the fool- 
ish prejudice of the up-town American Cre- 
oles against the down-tow r n French "gay- 
gays" and apply yourself vigorous^ to 
French. 

The air here is good, and I think healthy. 
The climate in Italy is very much like ours 
in New Orleans, but they have no mosquito 
bars here or in Venice, though in the latter 
place I did hear a few friendly, innocuous 
mosquitos sing about the bed. You know 
we could not pass our summers without 
bars; but I suppose that Italy is so close to 



— 54 — 

the sea on all sides that those pests are 
swept away by the breezes. I shall be sure 
to buy your English razor, though I think 
the style now is for young mey. not to 
shave, and I am persuaded the ladies like 
it better. 

Rome is built on rolling ground; the 
streets are wide and clean, and the drainage 
appears to be good. The houses are high 
and solid. The part near our entrance, on" 
tlie northwest, I understood to be only a few 
years old. But the most of the houses are, 
say, three hundred years old. Rome, in 
the time of Augustus, had about four mil- 
lion inhabitants, — something like London 
now. Under one of the Popes it was re- 
xeduced to thirty thousand, owing to the 
massacres by the Goths and Vandals. Gib- 
bon will tell you all about it._ So, good- 
night. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handun. 



— 55 — 

Rome, Italy, August 26, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

There are so man}^ books about Rome that 
it is useless for me to attempt a description. 
E. K. Washington's book of travels at home 
is full of it. Indeed, the word Rome, itself, 
expresses it all. But having written you so 
much already, you ma} r expect more, and I 
will now send you a few pen-paintings of 
what I saw in Rome. 

Well, after a night of travel, the first 
pretty thing I saw on leaving the depot, in 
a large, well-paved space, was a lovety foun- 
tain, sparkling in the morning sun. The 
central spout went up thirty feet, and from 
a lower brim, outside of the basin, fine 
curved streams of clear water, six inches 
apart, went over into the basin, — the whole 
commingling together. And still further 
out, four great lions, one on each side, were 
spouting water outwardly and downwardly. 
To the right of this stood the Baths of Dio- 
clesian, a large brick, tumble-down con- 



— 56 — 

cern, with shops and fruit-stands about it, 
the outside of which was enough for me. 

We started out on our second morning for 
the Coliseum. After walking on a good 
while, looking for a street car, we were told 
it was not far, and kept walking. Turning 
to our left, and going up a hill, we were 
shown the large, handsome church of San 
Pietro in Vincoli Jianicoli, and went in. 
There sat a very large, gray marble statue of 
Moses, with the two tables of stone under 
his right arm. Sandals were on his 
feet, he had a great beard, and the strong, 
majestic face was expressive of highly intel- 
lectual power. It was by Michael Angelo. 
Going out, we passed a little over the hill, 
and beneath stood the Coliseum. 

u Ruines de Palmyre !" If Volney was 
ever here, he might have written as he did 
about Palmyra: " Ruins of Rome, I salute 
you!" It is a vast, grim, circular wall, I 
judge 80 feet high, more or less. The base- 
ment story has great arched doors, 20 feet 



— 57 - 

high. The next two stories have similar 
arched openings, fifteen feet high. Then 
the wall goes up, thirty or forty feet, with 
openings or windows four or five feet square. 
There are four great projecting rims or cor- 
nices, one at the top and the others lower 
down. We went around to the right, and 
found a free passage on the ground into the 
arena. Only about three-four t!:s seemed to 
be used for the show; the other portion had 
openings that descended into caves, where, I 
suppose, the wild beasts were kept. As we 
looked up these sloping slants of bare, de- 
caying walls, I could not help but reflect on 
the vast throngs who sat there, full of life, 
nearly two thousand years ago, and enjoyed 
the cruel scenes of poor gladiators done to 
death, and the martyred Christians, torn and 
mangled by tigers and lions. That was 
the kind of theatres they had then ! Ac- 
cording to Mr. Washington, w 7 ho is author- 
ity, that building was begun A. D. 62, by 
Vespasian and completed by Titus. 



— 58 — 

Not far from there, we came upon the 
Arch of Constantine, a massive structure 
sixty feet high, standing bolt across a wide 
street, with three great arches for passage 
and travel. To the right, a couple of hun- 
dred yards up a slope, stands the Arch of 
Titus, at and about the Forum. Beyond, 
the low, crumbling remains of the walls 
of the Forum, covering about two or 
three acres, are all that is left of the cele- 
brated arena where Caesar, Cicero, and Cato 
the Censor, delivered their great arguments 
on the conspiracy of Catiline, as it is re- 
ported by Sallust. 

On the south, adjoining the Forum, and 
upon the Palatine Hill, stand two or three 
stories of the palace of that monster, Calig- 
ula (the accent is on the second syllable). 
From recent reading about him in the writ- 
ings of Suetonius, I have a great loathing 
for him. He was given that nickname from 
the little soldier's boots he wore in the army 
when he was a child, and it stuck to him. 



— 59 — 

The doctor had a headache. I ate some- 
thing outside. He said it would be free the 
next day and he would return, but I was 
there and prepared to pay a franc and have 
done with it. Going up a long ascent, I 
came to the great arched doorway, and found 
I was followed by a guide, who spoke only 
a few words of French, but was very intelli- 
gent. Some fifty yards in, — I think I 
would have got lost in that Mammoth- 
Cave-looking place if he had not come, — 
he showed me the chamber of Caligula, and 
the place where the bridge had been, con- 
necting the palace with the Forum. Wind- 
ing away amid ruins, we came to the spot 
in a passage where Caligula was assassi- 
nated; and he showed me the secret passage- 
way into the palace. Going around a long 
distance I found another ascent, and went 
up where there was a deep basin thirty feet 
long, where he said there was a fish pond. 
There I discovered a large garden of two or 
three acres of cedar, cottonwood and syca- 



— 60 — 

mores, 30 or 40 feet high, which was 
a covering- for the palace constructed, he 
said, by Napoleon III. 

Still further from the Forum, by the side 
of this palace, stand the ruins of the palace 
of that other monster, Domitian. And these 
two palaces are the palaces of the Caesars — 
pronounced here "Chessary." Toward the 
south end of Domitian's palace is the house 
of Livia, that celebrated lady of whom Taci- 
tus gives some master strokes in his account 
of Tiberins. I was in her dining room, 
about thirty feet long. Many of the paint- 
ings of fruit and other figures, very deli- 
cate, are still visible; also in her three draw- 
ing-rooms, which were not very large. Ad- 
joining is the site of the Temple of Jupiter 
Tbnans. 

I got out, and the doctor, who was to wait 
for me and go to the baths of Carracalla, 
was gone. I wandered along a good way, 
but tacked too far to the right, — which Ad- 
miral Try on would have done better — 



— 61 — 

and filially I got into a road between two 
walls, going up an ascent, the people still 
telling me to go on, until I found that I was 
getting into the country, clear out of the 
city. The working people I met seemed to 
know nothing of Mr. Carracalla or his 
baths, and I could understand nothing of 
their Italian, and they knew nothing of 
French or Spanish. I turned back and got 
into a loathsome road between walls, the 
way I thought I ought to go, but I came to 
the end, which was locked. There I knocked 
and an old woman opened the gate, when I 
found I was in a cemetery of several acres, 
with fine marble monuments. I kept on in 
my course, but found no way out, and re- 
turned the way I entered; and going around 
some distance I got started on the shorter 
tack. After awhile I saw the high walls of 
the ruin to my right, my road being be- 
tween it and the city. But I passed the side 
alley that led up to the entrance of the rear 
end, and kept right along parallel to what 



— 62 — 

was once the front, with four great doors, 
now closed, and several acres there which 
are now cultivated in vegetable gardens. I 
had the doctor's umbrella, but it was hot 
and dusty, and now 12 o'clock. 

I got into a garden near the wall, and 
was told by a good widow, whose husband 
died a year ago and left her with two bright 
little children, — a boy and a girl, — that I 
must go back to the alleyway and go up to 
the end, but that it would not be open 
until 3 o'clock. I don't like to give up 
things, so I got a chair and sat under a 
cool arbor, with some very thick foliage of 
some vine or shrub, and dozed a little for 
two hours. Then I went to the entrance 
and waited till three o'clock. One franc 
was the entrance fee. The cicerone knew 
nothing but Italian. I suppose the place 
is three hundred yards long by one hun- 
dred and fifty yards wide. The vast walls, 
four or five feet thick, of solid masonry, go 
up sixty or seventy feet. There yet exists 



— 63 — 

a considerable portion of the flooring, paved 
with the then mosaic (nothing like the Ve- 
netian) with small pieces of white and col- 
ored marble in figures of fans and serpents. 
In the middle, on the front, is the great cold 
water bath of, say, sixty yards square and 
five feet deep, for the public. Back of this, 
still in the center, is a tepid bath, and 
adjoining on the back of the middle, is the 
hot bath, with the furnace and all. In a 
rear corner is the bath of the Emperor, ex- 
clusively reserved, say thirty feet long; and 
some distance, still on the back, is the bath 
of his woman, or women — not to call them 
by a worse name, as the guide did, which 
made me think of Solomon and the Bible. 

In one great room, enormous chunks of 
the walls, which had fallen, lay in heaps; 
but I got out and started back, and when 
the Coliseum came in view, I found that the 
baths were at least three-quarters of a mile 
distant from it; though Air. Bennett, a 
painter, had told me at the Consulate it 



— 64 — 

was near by. I had the baths of Titus on 
my list, but was told they were not inter- 
esting. I had enough of baths. 

Should you ever come here with your 
mother, or any other lady, you must take 
a cab for the day, for those places are too 
far apart, and there seem to be no conve- 
nient street cars in that direction. At each 
end of the baths of Caracalla there was an 
athaneum, or place of amusement. 

Rome is a cheerful city; in fact, you hear 
singing everywhere in Italy. u Via" means 
road in latin, and it may mean street also. 
But here a street is "via;" in Germany, 
"strasse," and in Austria, "gasse." So 
the second day is finished. Good-bye. 
Your father, 

W. W. Handun. 



— 65 — 

Rome, Italy, August, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

Today is Sunday, but I had lost my reck- 
oning and thought it was Friday, until 
noon, when I began to find places of busi- 
ness closed and the museums free. This 
has not happened to me for years before, 
but it comes from traveling in the night 
and being surrounded \>y an unfamiliar 
tongue. If I ever come here again I intend 
to know some Italian words. This morning 
I had taken black coffee in my room, and 
at nine o'clock, near St. Peter's, I wanted 
some milk and bread. I could not make 
them understand what milk, leche, or lait 
meant. At night, I found it was something 
like latty; so I had to go in the kitchen and 
pick up two eggs, which they fried. 

I tried to get an audience with the Pope, 
to have your beads blessed for your mam- 
ma. I got through the sentinels up to the 
third story, and was sent to the master of 
ceremonies. But the servant told me he 



— 66 — 

had not come and that it was Sunday, any- 
way. I then bethought me of the letter of 
introduction you brought me from the 
Jesuit's College to the priest here at the 
North American College, which was a long 
way off; so I took a cab. He had just left 
for America. There was a young man there 
from Illinois, Mr. McGrath, studying for 
the priesthood. He told me to see the rec- 
tor, but he was out. So I, in the mean- 
time, proposed to him to see the sights in 
the cab, which offer he gladly accepted, as 
the poor fellow was overjoyed to talk in 
English. 

There are three great obelisks from Egypt 
in Rome, put up by Pontano in 1589, un- 
der Sextus Quintus. One stands before 
St. Peter's, one in the People's Square, and 
one in front of St. John's Church, the lat- 
ter being the tallest. The main street runs 
from the People's Square two miles through 
the heart of the city to Capitol Hill. We 
went in a cab to Monte del Popolo, overlook- 



— 67 — 

ing the People's Square. There is only 
one of the seven hills on the west side of 
the Tiber — the Janiculum. The Campus 
Martius is there between it and the river. 
Thej^ say the present population of Rome 
is 450,000. We drove to the Capitol. I 
saw the high gateway where Gibbon was 
inspired to write the Decline and Fall. 
The Tarpean Rock was there,- — not much 
of a precipice! There are two rather poor 
museums at the Capitol, one of which I 
went into free, as it was Sunday. The 
young man pointed out the tower where 
Nero is supposed to have fiddled while 
Rome was burning. I was anxious to see 
the great statue of Pompey; it is a giant. 
He stands naked — his toga thrown grace- 
fully over his left shoulder, coming dcwn 
behind, and swinging over the front of his 
left arm. I wonder that sculptors do not 
always make statues exactly life-size, like 
St. Peter sitting, a copy of which we have 
in New Orleans; and like Franklin, in La- 



— 68 — 

fa3'ette Square, for then we can tell the 
size of the man. But how are we to judge 
of the size of Ponipey from his statue? Or 
of the size of Henry Clay, from his great 
statue in New Orleans. 

I went back to the College and gave the 
rector my letter. He said it was hard to 
see the Pope, and that he is eighty-four; 
but he gave me a letter of introduction to 
the master of ceremonies, recommending 
me as a distinguished Catholic, and I will 
go again tomorrow. 

Mr. McGrath then took me to St. Peter's 
and showed me through. All the great 
pictures are mosaic, except one, which is a 
painting. The sculpture of Canova and 
Michael Angelo is grand. There is a love- 
ly dove over the great altar, and the repre- 
sentation of the Holy Spirit is truly di- 
vine. As a whole, although immense, the 
ensemble of the church does not appear in- 
conveniently large. It is in the form of a 
cross. Yellow or gold predominates in the 



— 69 — 

upper portion, which gives the church a 
bright and cheerful appearance. Some dis- 
tance, about one hundred yards in front of 
the church, there is a depressed basin of 
about six or eight acres; in the center 
stands the best of the three obelisks, on 
each side of which is a fountain. There is 
an arc of a circle, containing in all near 
two hundred great pillars on the sides. 

My landlady can scarcely understand 
anything, but at dinner she made amends 
by giving me a delicious dish of macaroni. 
And they have great, greenish figs here 
now, splendid to eat, and their fig season 
is four -months, while ours is only one. 
The consul told me that the best species 
come in October. Our horticulturists would 
do well to introduce these varieties. 

The streets, so far, on the continent, are 
paved with smooth blocks of stone, about 
five inches square, and laid triangularly, so 
that it is a pleasure to walk through them. 

The rector at the College offered to have 



— 70 — 

Che beads blessed, if I would leave them 
with him, but I told him he might be 
gone when I got back from Naples; upon 
which he replied that I was very skepti- 
cal , and wrote the letter of introduction 
above referred to. So, good-bye. 

Your Father, 
W. W. Handlin. 



Rome, Italy, Aug. 28, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I leave Rome at 6 a. m., tomorrow, for 
Naples; so we will call this the fourth 
and last day in Rome. At 8 o'clock I went 
to the corner of II Corso Delia Vita, 
to the banker, Mr. Schmitt, to get my 
:gold changed. For $20 he gave me no 
lire. If I had had a $20 greenback, I 
would have gotten 112 lire. For $10 he 
gave me 51 francs, French money. I got 
into a low omuibus, with a cover and four 
slat seats, crossways, drawn by two horses, 
and started for St. Peter's, but the driver 



— 71 — 

went to the People's Square, and I had to 
wait and go back with him to the other end 
to take the right car. The car drivers blow 
a little horn instead of a whistle. 

At the Vatican, I delivered my letter to 
the master of ceremonies, who spoke French, 
He was affable, but said it was difficult, on 
account of formalities and court etiquette, to 
see the Pope. As to the beads, he offered 
to have them blessed; but I told him I was 
a lawyer and could not give hearsay testi- 
mony, and unless I could see the Pope bless 
the beads, I preferred to take them along. 
Then I spent two hours in the Vatican Gal- 
lery, looking at the paintings. I was so- 
licitous to see the works of Raphael. I think 
it was on the third floor that we came to 
them. It is almost impossible, considering 
the length of time I stayed, to more than 
mention the names of some of the paintings, 
mostly historical, and therefore interesting. 
On that floor there are three rooms of great 
paintings by Raphael and one of Giulio Ro- 



— 72 — 

mano. By Raphael there is the painting of 
"Attilla Met By The Pope," and his pro- 
cession of covered horses and attendants, 
calm and imposing. The cavalry of Attilla 
are charging and rearing. The noble faces 
of his war horses and their riders with 
clenched legs, but without saddle or bridle, 
accord with history. Then there is "The 
School of Athens," somewhat worn by time; 
" St. Peter in Prison," being delivered by 
Angels; "The Coronation of Charlemagne 
at Jerusalem;" "The Descent of the Holy 
Ghost;" "The Baptism of Constantine;" 
"The Cross in The Heavens," as it ap- 
peared to Constantine; "The Donation of 
Rome to the Pope by Constantine." On 
the floor adjoining the three of Raphael is 
the "Room of Constantine," by Giulio Ro- 
mano, and the last paintings mentioned 
above are by him. 

The greatest work of Raphael, considered 
the best in the world, is "The Transfigura- 
tion," on the fourth story. On that story I 



— 73 — 

had a fine view from a window. The Christ 
is some ten feet from the ground on the top 
of the hill, with arms and feet extended, and 
floating, as it were, in a cloud of lovely- 
light. The Apostles are reclining, half ly- 
ing, on the ground, and looking upward 
with confiding earnestness. In a corner by 
the side of the mountain, and away in the 
distance, is a lovely valley with green gar- 
dens and houses. In the group at the foot 
is the picture of the Virgin, which the two 
guides said was the likeness of Raphael's 
mistress. When I expressed surprise, they 
said it was according to the custom of 
those days. 

Going down, I went into a great Chapel, 
painted and frescoed by Michael Angelo, for 
he was a great painter as well as a sculptor. 
I forgot to say that by the side of "The 
Transfiguration" stands a copy by a modern 
artist, — very good, — but even as poor a 
judge as I am, would say that it does not 
equal the original, which is now three hun- 



— 74 — 

dred years old, though well preserved. Also 
near by stands a Virgin. She appeared 
somewhere, in some place. By the way 
I think this thing of the Virgin is a 
little incomprehensible. She must be a 
great traveler. When I was not much older 
than you are, I stood in the Temple of Gua- 
dalupe, near Mexico, within four feet of the 
Virgin — so close that I could see the threads 
of the canvass. My friend, Don Miguel 
del Rio y Rio, had gone out there with me 
to spend the Sunday. Poor fellow! I guess 
he is dead now. A Canon of the Church, a 
friend of his, showed us the Virgin, and 
dined us. 

The legend is that Juan Diego, a poor 
Indian was approached by the Virgin, and 
becoming frightened, he ran away. She 
appeared again, and told him to see the 
Bishop and tell him to build a church there. 
But Juan said it would be impossible for the 
Bishop to believe a poor creature like him. 
Thereupon the Virgin of Guadelupe threw 



— 75 — 

down a mantle full of flowers and her image 
was stamped upon the mantle. As it was 
winter, and no time for flowers to grow, the 
Bishop knew it was the Virgin, and so the. 
church was built. 

I find the Italians here a well informed, , 
intelligent race. They are not so dark as 
those in New Orleans, possibly because they 
are of a better class. But I am much dis- 
appointed at not meeting more Americans «. 
There are two causes which probably keep 
them away this year — the Chicago Exposi- 
tion and the cholera. 

I may w r rite you from Naples, and I hope 
to hear from you when I get to Paris. It is 
possible I will go by Aix Les Bains and 
Vichy, as they are not far off the road. I 
suppose I shall have a long road from Na- 
ples to Florence. I hope the account of 
things here will interest you. 

Thus, my son, have we traced together 
some of the lost grandeur of Imperial 
Rome. You are in the third year of your 



-*- 76 — 

classical course. Study her history. Study 
her poets and orators. Read every line of 
Caesar's Commentaries and the " Belli Civili 
Romanorum, n in the Latin tongue — as I 
have done not long since. Truly, as Bacon 
says, the things that Caesar and Alexander 
actually did accomplish, far surpass the im- 
aginary exploits of Amadis de Gaul. 

The Roman people are an eternal exam- 
ple to the youth of after ages of what may 
be accomplished by human energy, and the 
civilization to which they attained is won- 
derful indeed, when we consider the 
slow methods then in use. With our steam 
and electricity of the present day, what 
more might not Caesar have done? But it 
is possible to give energy another direction, 
and good men now hope that war, with its 
horrors, may be finally abolished. Those 
old Romans were no sluggards. But in 
that age war was necessary, and the art of 
war was advanced by them to the greatest 
stage of perfection then known. Good-bye. 
Your father, 

W. W. Handun. 



— 77 — 

Naples, Italy, Aug. 28, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I left Rome yesterday morning and 
reached Naples last night. On leaving the 
city, I noticed old walls and acqueducts 
with gaps of a hundred yards. There was 
no deserted Campagna on that side, either. 
On the contrary, there were fields of solid 
vines, six feet high, and in a very good 
state of cultivation, for miles from the city. 
Some distance from the railroad I saw some 
worn spaces, but nothing like the accounts 
I had read of the desolation of the Roman 
Campagna. However, a gentleman speak- 
ing some French, told me that on the south 
side of Rome, toward the sea, several miles 
of land are abandoned. I asked him if it 
was not susceptible of cultivation. He said 
yes, but the air is bad. 

Low mountains lay off to the left. Be- 
tween thirty and forty miles out, we struck 
the hills on both sides, and went through 
three tunnels, — one a long one. Then we 



— 78 — 

got into a gorge, and the nubbins of Indian 
corn in every little strip stuck their little 
heads up, the tops having been cut off for 
fodder. After a while we got into a wide 
valley and a very pretty, fertile country, 
which continued all the way; and a while 
before we got to the city the valley widened 
out and became very extensive. There are 
plenty of apple trees, full of apples, the 
same product I have noticed before. The 
green looking figs I mentioned before are 
called sugar figs. It is a great country for 
figs. No wonder Horace wrote poetry about 
what a fig tree did and said. 

We passed several cities, one of which is 
Capua, on the river Volturno. On ap- 
proaching, I noticed a high hill and fortress 
in the city, — something like the one in 
Quebec, which hangs over the St. Lawrence. 
The city goes down to the water of the bay, 
like Venice; but it is not so clean, and 
there is a great deal of bustle of vehicles 
and people. Being late in the evening, I 



— 79 — 

was unable to tell whether the smoky ap- 
pearance was caused by Mt. Vesuvius or 
not. The houses are high here, and they 
say the population is over half a million. I 
did not see the Via Appia at Rome, and 
was told it was some distance out. Probably 
Mr. Washington saw it on his way here in 
a stage, for I do not think the railroad 
was built when he traveled. 

When I got up this morning I found the 
mountain on which I saw the smoke last 
night is Vesuvius. It is not much of a 
mountain, only two thousand feet high, 
and not to be compared to the Orizaba or 
Popocatapetl. It was raining a little, which 
was the first rain I saw in Europe, except 
a small shower as Mr. McGrath and I came 
out of St. Peter's in Rome. 

The first funny thing I saw was a man 
with a Jersey cow, ringing a bell for people 
to come and get milk. I stopped and saw 
one vessel filled. It would be a good cus- 



— 80 — 

torn in New Orleans. Then we would not 
buy so much water. 

I found many gentlemen on the streets 
who understood French, and they were very 
kind in showing me places and giving me 
directions. One of them told me. there 
were two thousand lawyers in Naples. 

The principal newspaper has its office at 
one end of the city and is printed at the 
other, which I found to my cost. 

On leaving Rome I was a good deal wor- 
ried because I had not heard from the Con- 
sul here. Now when a man neglects to an- 
swer an important and respectful letter, he 
is behind the age and is lacking in the cour- 
tesy of a gentleman. For over a quarter of 
a century I have had prompt and respectful 
answers from the departments at Washing- 
ton. With a few exceptions, our senators 
and representatives have always answered 
my letters. Yea, I have received letters 
from some of the Presidents. But my wrath 
was mollified when I arrived at the Con- 



— 81 — 

sulate, for that gentleman had written the 
day before I left Rome, and the letter had 
not been received by me, and he was so 
courteous in giving me introductions and 
one important letter, that I found my irri- 
tation arose more from my own haste than 
from his slowness. 

In the afternoon I came down 17 miles to 
Sorrento, a resort which is to Naples what 
Long Branch is to New York; and it is on 
a mountain over the sea, whence this letter 
is posted. I am tired from climbing up 
the steps. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handijn. 



Naples, Italy, Sep. 5, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I stayed some time at Sorrento, down the 
Bay. It is a summer resort for the people 
of Naples, and I had some difficulty in 



— 82 — 

getting a room, and went to three houses 
before I succeeded. 

The business of the place is packing and 
shipping fruit, and the town is built on a 
long narrow strip of land under the moun- 
tains and away above the sea. Such or- 
chards and fertile fruit gardens I never 
saw. Great high olive trees are loaded 
with berries. The vines are full of grapes, 
and swing from trees and stakes high above 
the solid walls of stone masonry. Walnut 
trees, peach trees, pear trees, and all other 
fruit trees of the country are covered with 
luscious fruit. 

The people close up all places of business 
from noon till three and go to bed. The 
harbor here is the most beautiful I have 
seen, except Acapulco. As I go, I am 
picking up a good many Italian words and 
setting them down on paper, and before I 
am done with Italy I shall have quite a 
little vocabulary. 

As I said, there are a great number of 



— 83 — 

lawyers here. I meet them everywhere. 
They all speak French and look like gen- 
tlemen. At Sorrento, they kept placing a 
bottle of wine before me until I was over- 
come, and commenced taking a small glass 
pure and coloring my glass of water, as I 
sometimes do at home. "Home" makes me 
feel like getting back, and I sometimes feel 
lonesome, as I often did when a boy by 
myself in Mexico, — being surrounded by a 
strange race and friendless. I have no ac- 
quaintances but the stars. As I stood on 
the high balcony of my room and looked 
across the Bay of Naples toward the north- 
ern heavens, and gazed for hours at the 
Polar Star, Ursa Major, Regulus Vega and 
Cappella, I recognized old and familiar ac- 
quaintances there, and felt that I still be- 
longed to earth. 

In Sorrento there are a great many fine 
hotels and aristocratic private residences 
and gardens. On one side of the Central 
Square there is a small fruit market, and 



— 84 — 

on another a large reading room and a bil- 
liard establishment with a town clock 
above, which form the headquarters of 
the place; and in front there is a music 
stand under shade trees where a band plays 
operatic pieces of evenings for three or four 
summer months, at an expense to the mu- 
nicipality of four thousand francs. 

On that plaza stand fine statues of the poet, 
Torquato Tasso, and St. Anthony, the pro- 
tector of the town. I have got so I can read 
dispatches in the Italian papers from Lon- 
don and America about the home rule bill, 
the railroad collisions and the cyclones. 
And that makes me think of those old-time 
people who looked in security from the 
high shore upon the storms and shipwrecks 
of the ocean. By the way there was a prec- 
ipice of one or two hundred feet under my 
room down toward the bay. 

I heard only one mosquito sing in Sor- 
rento. They say that a great many 
Americans visit this place in the winter 



— 85 — 

and spring; but I saw only one — a lady 
from New York. 

This morning I came over to Naples and. 
after visiting the U. S. Consul and getting 
some newspapers, I started to see the town,, 
and bought an Italian book without a master. 
From the apparent size of Naples, I doubted 
if it had as large a population as they pretend r 
but on entering the Via Roma, a principal 
street, the people were so thick that if was 
difficult to pass. I kept going, inquiring: 
for the National Museum and Picture Gal- 
lery, which they said was not far, but I 
found it about a mile. So I paid a franc 
and went in, and the way the stairs are 
arranged, I soon found myself on the third, 
and top floor, where the paintings are* 
They are all "on the make," and I was 
soon surrounded by two or three guides. 
In other places, the name of the painter is 
at the bottom, with other information y but 
there, there is a book by the door with the 
numbers of the paintings, and they expec 



— 86 — 

you to go to reading a big book for two 
francs or hire a guide. I was not inter- 
ested in paintings. After Raphael and 
the Vatican, one gets hard to please. But 
I came to four fine rooms with a hundred 
glass cases ,of Roman and Grecian coins, — 
gold, silver and copper, the latter predom- 
inating. The money of the Roman Repub- 
lic and that of the Empire, with the heads 
of the Emperors, was curious and interest- 
ing. There were great rooms of ancient 
pottery of all kinds. I then went down to 
the second and ground floors, and found 
the best collection of statues of any I have 
yet seen; in one room I was told the stat- 
ues of Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Trajan, 
Titus, Vespasian and others had been found 
in the baths of Caracalla and brought to 
Naples. One room contained statues of 
all the Muses and the Four Seasons. A 
group of statues of Dying Gladiators and 
an Amazon is interesting. Enormous mar- 
ble heads of Vespasian, and other Emper- 



— 87 — 

ors, are there. Cicero's statue, apparently 
life-size — as they said it was — is doubtless 
a true representation of the man; the fea- 
tures are regular, and the nose long and 
somewhat curved, the forehead rather long 
but rather retreating, and the ensemble cal- 
culated to please. He was six feet, two 
inches high, or thereabouts. There is a 
great head of Caesar, with a life-size statue, 
the features of which correspond with en- 
gravings which I have; except the nose is 
not curved, but rather long and straight. 
There must be something in what phrenolo- 
gists say, for his head is massive and thick 
from ear to ear, indicating combativeness. 
Good-bye. 

Your Father, 

W. W. Handlin. 



Naples, Italy, Sep. 6, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

In my last, I forgot to say that from the 
apparently life-size statue of Caesar in . Na- 
ples he must have been six feet and three or 
four inches high; and, according to Napole- 
on Third's life of him, his eyes were dark. 
Alexander the Great was also tall, and, ac- 
cording to Plutarch, he was light of com- 
plexion; and his perspiration was slightly 
perfumed, as is often the case with red- 
dish men. 

Well, I have seen Pompeii ! It took an 
hour to go, and cost a franc. The railroad 
goes along the Bay and around Vesuvius. 
Pompeii is three or four* miles inland now, 
but the Bay extended to it once, and the 
fastenings for vessels are still there. The 
land is raised, or the sea fallen. The city 
stands on the southeast side of Vesuvius, and 
is a hundred feet or so above sea level. The 
entrance fee is two lires (francs) , and when I 
found that covered the services of the guide 



— 89 — 

who was following me, I allowed him to go 
along, and should not have known much 
without him. 

Shall I write you what I saw in Pom- 
peii? Am I equal to the task? Shade of 
Caesar, help my descriptive powers ! "Gal- 
lia est divisa in partes tres" is invoked. I 
walked around two hours, made a table on 
the shoulder of the guide, and took some 
notes with my pencil on the margin of a 
newspaper. 

At the top of the long ascent, under a 
great arch, there stands on the right a small 
museum, of probably one hundred ieet in 
length, with the end toward the way. There 
are glass cases in the middle, covering twen- 
ty or thirty petrified bodies of people who 
were covered by the boiling water and ashes 
of the volcano. On the sides, there are large 
vessels of pottery for wine, and all kinds of 
lamps and ancient vessels, locks of doors, 
fruit, nuts, cloth for clothing, and other 
things. There are skeletons of horses, and 



— 90 — 

a dog with a collar on. There were sandals 
on the feet of the people, and a ring on a 
lady's finger. 

Pompeii was bnilt on lava in the first 
place. There were two eruptions. The 
first only damaged the city, bnt the second 
submerged it. Most of the houses were one 
or two stories high, — at least, if they were 
more, they have crumbled away. A few of 
the streets are of good size, but the most of 
them are narrow, only admitting of one 
cart, the tracks of which are seen deep in 
the stone. Only about half of the city has 
been excavated, but it is the principal part. 
There are ranges of restaurants and kitch- 
ens. Many of the paintings on the walls 
of the Pantheon are well preserved and 
beautiful. Some of them are: "Eulyses 
and Penelope," u A Priest," u Theseus and 
Adriana," "A Ship with Galley Slaves 
Rowing It," U A Woman in the Act of 
Painting," u Victory — Her Chariot Drawn 
by Two Horses." And then, great strings 



— 91 — 

of fish. One rather small residence is re- 
markable for its taste: A great bear dying, 
in mosaic on the floor at the entrance, lies 
near the word "Have," which the guide 
said meant Welcome. There was also in 
that house a gorgeous fountain with many 
figures, including Mars and Venus. He 
showed me a number of public fountains. 
The first was that of Ceres, the Goddess of 
Abundance. On the marble I saw it was 
worn down b}^ the right hands of people who 
stooped down to drink. Another fountain 
is that .of Minerva. 

The large and the small theatres have 
seats and an arched corridor high in the 
rear, very much as we have them now. The 
pillars of a large barrack for soldiers are 
still standing. He showed me a large and 
sumptuous house of the Consul, with paint- 
ings on the walls of the dining room and 
parlors. There was a drug store with a 
curious sign. Nearby was a house of luxury 
with pictures on the walls which T may 
not name. 



— 92 — 

The public bath house of cold aud hot 
baths is small but very elegant, the dress- 
ing-room of which is ornamented with many 
figures. Then came the chambers of the 
Court of Justice, the Forum, and the Senate 
Chamber. There are a number of Tem- 
ples — which we now call churches. The 
Temple of Apollo is the greatest. A beau- 
tiful marble altar in the Temple of Mercury 
is perfect; it stands on a slab six inches 
thick and five feet high, by four feet in front 
and four feet back. The front has beauti- 
fully carved figures of a great bull ready for 
sacrifice, and the priestesses who stand 
around. There is also a Temple to Isis and 
one to Jupiter. The Central Square has 
pedestals for statues, and one is for a statue 
€>f Sallust, as appears from the inscription. 
Then, there is the commercial exchange, 
butcher shops, bakeries, and immense ves- 
sels of pottery for wine. Good-bye. 
Your father, 

W. W. Handlin. 



— 93 — 

Naples, Italy, Sep. 10, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I forgot to say that in Pompeii I saw the 
ruins of a temple to the goddess Fortune, 
and that Byron wrote that he believed in 
her divinity. Hence is explained that say- 
ing of Caesar to the mariner: u Caesarem 
et fortunam ejus portas." 

I an> doing nothing here now, and you 
may have come across that Italian quotation 
in books, u dolce far niente" But it is not 
agreeable for me to do nothing, so I am down 
deep in the Italian newspapers and the 
Italian self-taught book. 

To-day I went to the Vesuvius, a fine ho- 
tel here, in the hope of finding some Eng- 
lish-speaking people, but there was only one 
and he was out. 

There are different kinds of the lame, 
blind, and halt. If you are acquainted with 
a lame man, you know him by the peculi- 
arity of his halt without seeing his face. In 
the same manner I recognize a man in New 



94 — 

Orleans by his peculiar bald head, wherever 
I see it. But today I saw a singular halt. 
An old Friar was walking in the middle of 
the street, and kept one foot always before 
the other. 

A policeman told me their pay was seven- 
t3'-five francs per month, but his uniform 
was so handsome I took him for an army 
officer. 

In the great People's Square in Naples is 
a fountain forty or fifty feet high. The 
sides of the square are illuminated at night 
and it is filled with people Here, also, the 
city supports a band of music. It seems to 
me that a city as great as New Orleans, for 
the sake of life and gayety, might have 
something of the sort two or three evenings 
in the week, during the hot season. Music 
speaks the same language for all. 

The Prince of Naples, son of Humbert, 
now twenty-four years old and unmarried, 
resides in the royal palace here which faces 
on the people's square. At present he is in 



— 95 - 

Germany attending the military parades and 
a great discussion is going on in the news- 
papers as to the propriety of the statesman- 
ship permitting such a visit, so closely is 
royalty hedged in by etiquette. At the 
house where I stay is a widow with a hand- 
some daughter who lost her husband a few 
years ago by the earthquake on the island 
of Ischia, near here. I have been wonder- 
ing why they drive so many goats, but I 
have just discovered that they sell the fresh 
milk from the goats as well as the cows. 

Last night I was down at the quay in a 
very high house and I had an unobstructed 
view of Vesuvius at night. In the new 
crater, some three years old, which is down 
a little to the left, there is a patch of fire of 
bright live coals. 

To-day I went with a friend to San Mar- 
tino, a museum above Naples. The part 
which has the paintings was closed for re- 
pairs and the rest was not interesting except 
a monk in wax, sitting in a room, which. 



— 96 — 

looked so natural I thought he was alive. 
We went out on a gallery and saw the whole 
of Naples and its surroundings. Away on 
the right stands Monte Nuovo, a volcano, 
and on the left Vesuvius. In the distance 
in front is the island of Capri (goat island) , 
the place where the Emperor Tiberius led 
such a disgraceful life, according to Sueto- 
nius, but the editor in a note pronounces it 
a libel. 

From there we visited the great royal 
palace, but I am too tired now to write what 
I saw there. Maybe hereafter I may do so. 
To-night at 12:40 I commence my long 
ride to Paris. It is too late now to stop at 
Vichy, as I thought of doing, but perhaps 
next year I may have that pleasure. 
Your father, 

W. W. Handun. 



— 97 — 

Paris, France, Sept. 13, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

After three nights on the cars I am in 
Paris. Approaching down the Seine, we 
passed Fontainebleau, the celebrated forest, 
which I noticed for several miles on each 
side of the road. It goes without saying 
that a New Orleanean is at home in Paris, 
familiar as we are with the customs of the 
mercurial French, and you can say that you 
are half a Frenchman by descent, but not I. 
After the worry of a long stay in Naples, 
the hurry and scurry of the trip, the hope 
of rejoining you all soon has somewhat re- 
vived me and I must confess railroad travel 
has great attraction for me. 

I nearly lost my head at Modane on ac- 
count of the massacre of some Italian labor- 
ers by the French; there is an ill feeling 
between the two countries and I could not 
get a through ticket to Paris, but only to 
Modane. There the train stopped only a 
few minutes, and I had to get my baggage 



examined by officers of the customs, to buy 
my ticket and get some Italian money 
changed. They would not take the Italian 
money in part payment for the ticket and I 
had to use some French gold I got in 
Naples. When I got in the cars I laid my 
pocket book down on my seat to look over 
my things. All at once I thought I had 
lost it and was about to tear off to the ticket 
office when luckily I discovered it on the 
seat. The sack of a traveler and his pocket 
book are next to his life, and I never sepa- 
rate from them en route. 

There was nothing very remarkable to be 
observed on the journey. After leaving 
Rome for some distance the Mediterranean 
was in view and we could see vessels sailing 
in the distance. There were many old 
castles on high peaks. On approaching the 
Alps, it was raining. We passed through 
a number of tunnels, which we generally 
struck just as I commenced to read. In- 
deed, we seemed to be going through tun- 



— 99 — 

nels half the time the last day, and it ap- 
peared to take nearly an hour to g'o throngh 
the great tunnel near Modane. 

I am getting along pretty well with Ital- 
ian. I have bought an Italian novel to read 
while crossing the ocean. 

There was a museum in Naples which I 
did not visit, called Capo di Monte, because 
I had failed to get a permit. On account 
of a statue of Hercules drunk, mentioned 
by Howells in his Italian Journeys, I would 
•have liked to have gone there. On the 
route we crossed the river Po in Italy, and 
near Aix les Bains the Rhone. 

I had another row with the railroad con- 
ductors about overcharge, for there is noth- 
ing I dislike more than unjust and oppress- 
ive exactions, and as I had a through ticket 
I refused to pay extras. They took me 
before a fellow that I took to be a justice of 
the peace. He said he thought I was accus- 
tomed to such things, which I fear had some 
truth in it, for there is an unenviable pleas- 



— 100 — 

tire in a dispute, especially if you get the 
better of it, as I did. 

They wanted to know who I was and 
where I came from; if I was a "vagainundo," 
and they commenced to go into my carpet 
sack to look for my passport, but when I 
obje&ed and said I should have to see my 
consul to know if they had that right, and 
that no passport had been asked in Italy or 
Germany, they desisted, and after two hours 
they let me go scot free. I had just that 
much time to lose. 

Well, I promised to say something about 
the royal palace of Naples. It is probably 
the most gorgeous in the world. It is likely 
that the old Bourbon kings left it just as it 
is. Imagine two large city squares built 
up solid except an interior courtyard. With- 
out a guide you would probably get lost 
after you once get in. The throne is a great 
chair with the back, arms and sides of gold, , 
a lion's head on each arm of gold and the 
seat and center of the back red or purple. 



— 101 — 

It is set upon a low dais in a large room. 
There is a large church and a theater, all 
upon the upper floor. The floors are mag- 
nificent. In the ceiling of the church there 
is a fresco by Morelli. I can only mention 
some of the paintings and the names of 
some of the painters. One was Jesus with 
the doctors. Ingratius made a Bishop, by 
Stanzioni; Lot and Family, the Great 
Coligny Family, the Murderers at the Mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew; Orpheus Charm- 
ing the People and the Beasts, by Vaccaro; 
Rachel and Jacob, very lovely, by the same; 
Cain Slaying his Brother, by de Vivo; 
Magdalene, by Titian. Then there are two 
great dining rooms, vast marble galleries 
for dancing and an immense ball room. 
The main double stairway of low marble 
steps, as viewed from the gallery above, 
baffles description. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handlin. 



— 102 — 

Paris, France, Sept. 15, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I was sick and tired of riding in the cars, 
and the second morning of my arrival, I 
went all over Paris on foot. I had a good 
view from the tower of the Bastile. I started 
in the Bonlevards, on the east side of the 
city, at the monument of the Bastile, and 
went along on the right side of the Seine, 
coming out at the door of the Church Mag- 
dalen at the other end of the city. It took 
me a full hour, and you know I am a good 
walker. The boulevards curve around sev- 
eral squares distant with the river, as it 
were on the back of the Seine. Speaking 
of the Seine reminds me of La Vieille Tour 
de Nesle, by Alexander Dumas Pere. You 
know there was an Alexander Dumas Fils, 
who has surpassed his father in the drama 
but not in romance. It was 9 o'clock 
Thursday when I got to the Magdalen, and 
mass was going on. It was the first church 
music I had heard since I left home. It is 



— loa — 
a long parallelogram of massive structure 
and surrounded by high pillars. The 
marble floor is fifteen feet from the ground 
with two flights of steps up to the door. 
After kneeling and giving thanks for divine 
protection and blessings and after the bene- 
diction, I started for the consulate to find 
out why I had gotten no letters. 

I passed through the large Place de la 
Concorde, around which were sitting statues 
on heavy pedestals and in the centre of 
which there is a great Egyptian obelisk. I 
saw Joan of Arc on horseback crossing the 
Seine, I was near the Eiffel tower. I passed 
through the great square near the Hotel 
des Invalides, which is the home of old sol- 
diers. I fell in with a lively young soldier, 
twent3^-three years old, who had served two 
years and had one more to serve. We re- 
crossed the Seine and passed near the col- 
umn of Vendome. He told me their pay 
was one sous a day and that they were paid 
every five days. I told him I would give 



— 104 — 

him a couple of sous, which would be two 
days pay, but he did not accept. Good 
manners! 

We passed through the great square of the 
Tuilleries, which is full of forest trees. In 
one corner I suppose there are a thousand 
chairs, where the people go twice a week to 
hear music. The Louvre is just back of the 
palace of the Tuilleries. There is a statue 
and monument to Gambetta there. At the 
door of the Louvre he left me. 

Shall I try to tell you about the Louvre 
and the galleries of the Louvre? It is too 
vast a task. It is interminable. The base- 
ment is occupied by statuary, Romans 
clothed, Jupiter, Assyrian idols of vast size. 
On the upper floor are the paintings. There 
are the French, Italian and Flemish schools. 
The first are French, and they are grand 
paintings indeed. There is a gorgeous 
portrait of Louis XIV by Regand; Hunting 
the Wild Boar, by Lebrun; Lazarus Res- 
urrected; many pictures by Van Dyke, 



— 105 — 

especially a noble portrait of Charles the 
First of England, that unfortunate king; 
Vulcan presenting the arms of ^Eneas to 
Venus, his mother; Henry III conferring a 
decoration of the Holy Ghost, by Van Loo; 
a beautiful picture of St. Paul, by Ferrani; 
Brutus condemning his sons to death for 
having gone into battle without orders, by 
Lathiere; the three Horatii receiving their 
swords from their father; the Sabine women 
with their infants stopping the conflict be- 
tween their kinsmen and their husbands; 
Madame Recamier on a sofa and many other 
paintings, by David. I thought the French 
school was the best, but when I came to 
Rubens I was captivated. What lovely art! 
Think of those living pictures after several 
hundred years beaming down on you as 
bright and lovely as if they had just been 
painted. There is a series of his paintings 
giving the history of Marie de Medicis, that 
celebrated and beautiful queen. First, her 
father and mother, her birth, her marriage 



— 106 — 

by proxy to Henry IV, the consummation 
of that marriage, the birth of Louis XIII, 
his conciliation with his mother (bearing 
olive leaves), her coronation and other pic- 
tures of her glory. 

By Reni, there was Hercules killing the 
hydra. There was a painting of lions try- 
ing to kill a horse and a picture of the 
Prophet Elias fed by an angel. But I have 
told you but little of what I saw. 

Good night. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handijn. 



Paris, France, Sept. 16, 1893. 
William, My Soit: 

I started from my room near the monu- 
ment of the Bastile to visit Versailles. I 
walked to Notre Dame, which is on an island 
of the Seine. Going on foot some distance 
to the railroad station, I noticed that the 
earth had a yellowish tinge, like potter's 



107 — 

clay, and it was not far from Sevres. On 
the way I met up with a statue of Ney, 
standing with a leg thrown forward, his 
mouth open and his sword raised in the act 
of charging. The way by rail was over 
charming rolling hills, which made me 
think of the words, u la belle France." The 
palace museum at Versailles is on rising 
ground, and as you ascend a couple of acres 
there is a line on each side of the busts of 
great Frenchmen. In the rear of the palace 
I admired the large garden of colored plants 
and the beautiful forest beyond. Inside 
there are many paintings of great battles, 
but battles can not be described on canvas. 
One picture of the night scene of Napoleon 
sitting in his camp is grand. 

In the bedroom of Louis XIV the bed is 
large and massive. Likewise the bedroom 
of Louis XIII was furnished with a bed, 
and I think there were a number of clocks 
of his manufacture or invention. 

On the way back I was amused at the 



— 108 — 

calling out at a station , ' ( Sant Clew! ' ' Hav- 
ing in history read much of the great things 
that were done at Saint Cloud, which I 
thought a grand sound, I could not help 
smiling at the right French pronunciation. 
Adios. 

Your Father, 

W. W. Handun. 



London, England, Sept. 18, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

Here we are in England ! England, old 
England, with all thy faults I love thee still ! 
Home of my language! My mother tongue! 
After being in the different nations of the 
Continent, where the language, manners 
and customs are so different from our own, 
it is a great relief to get where English is 
spoken. 

The soil and the pastures here are fine. 
Cattle are abundant and the fields and 



— 109 — 

hedges are kept in good order. The land is 
rolling and lies well. Everything looks solid 
and substantial as the Englishman is. I 
have to put on a winter coat. The climate 
is not like New Orleans. 

My first day in London being Sunday and 
everything closed, I took the train in the 
afternoon and went to Saint Michael's church 
in Saint Albans, to view the sitting statue 
of Sir Francis Bacon , the dear old soul ! When 
I got there the organist, Mr. Brewer, was 
playing and some boys were singing church 
music. It is a rather small crude building, 
and was the first Christian church within 
the walls of old Verulum. Parts of the old 
Roman walls six or seven feet high are 
still standing. St. Albans is a handsome 
city of fifteen thousand people. 

I stopped at a hotel in Bremen but was 
not pleased. With that exception, all over 
Europe I hunted up private houses and was 
more at home. I was a stranger and they 
took me in. You see, in Europe I was trav- 



-110- 

eling for myself, W. W. Handlin, nobody 
else. Here, in Old England, I feel that I 
am visiting my mother. Their politics now 
are a little cloudy. The Grand Old Man, 
Mr. Gladstone, the Prime Minister, is trying, 
it seems to me, to remodel the English gov- 
ernment with reference to Ireland somewhat 
on the plan of the United States. The op- 
position seem not to understand, or don't 
want to understand, and they raise the cry 
of "disunion" or "denationalization," which 
is an evident fallacy, and I make no doubt 
that home rule, which we call local self gov- 
ernment, will eventually prevail. You know 
our general government takes charge of all 
national matters — the army, the navy, the 
foreign relations, the mails, coinage, cus- 
toms and other such matters, leaving to the 
different States the control over all purely 
internal affairs. All police questions and 
suits between party and party and land 
matters are governed by the lex loci rei sitae . 
You know what trouble I had about the land 



— Ill — 

of your grandfather, Pierre E. Mader, which 
was situated in Mississippi, because the law 
of that common law State is so different 
from the law of Louisiana, which is derived 
from the Roman law and the Napoleon Code. 

My son, I have tried in these letters to 
show you myself as in a glass, as my lord 
Bacon said to my lord Coke, in his Expos- 
tulation, trusting that in most things you 
will strive to imitate me or some more wor- 
thy example, and if, at my age, I should 
receive some spiritual communication that 
you have done as well as I have, I should 
be content. I hope you will try to be pro- 
moted this session and skip over the course 
as fast as you can, and prepare yourself so 
as to be able to represent me when I shall 
be no longer there, for age is rapidly ad- 
vancing upon me. Palida mors aequo pede 
piilsat. 

Good-bye. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handlin. 



— 112 — 

London, England, Sept. 19, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I suppose I must write you something 
about what I saw in London . On Monday 
I visited the Bank of England, the Tower, 
St. James Park and Hyde Park. The bank 
was founded in the thirteenth year of Eliza- 
beth and restored in the eighth of Victoria. 

Monday being a free day, crowds of people 
were flocking through the Tower, which was 
once a royal residence and prison, but is 
now a museum. In the first room is the 
Queen's gold. It is deposited in a round 
iron cage, ten feet in diameter. There is a 
gold crown with precious stones, some very 
large gold dishes, and a great many gold 
salt cellars as big as water pitchers. Also 
there are many decorations of various or- 
ders. The building is of rough stones and 
about three stories high. The upper part 
is filled with all kinds of arms, old guns of 
India, swords and a great many curious old 
things. Also there are many knights, 



— 113 — 

mounted and in full armor, which is some- 
thing like Ruhmes Halle, in Berlin. 

Some of the principal streets are the Maul, 
Victoria, Oxford, Piccadilly, Holborn, 
Cheapside and Leadenhall. 

I visited the Courts of the Queen's Bench, 
the Divisions and the Hall of Chief Justice. 
It was vacation, but the attendants kindly 
unlocked the place and showed me around. 
I think that in urbanity and politeness the 
English will vie with any people on the 
continent. 

I also visited Gray's Inn, the two great 
courtyards, the garden and the diningroom. 
The latter is a great hall where probably 
two hundred lawyers, judges and students 
dine together in term time. The oak carv- 
ing is very fine, and the oak tables, three 
inches thick, were presented by Queen 
Elizabeth. Among the portraits are those 
of Burghley and Bacon. 

I had some curiosity to see Parliament in 
session. Permission must be gotten from a 



— 114 — 

member of each house or from the American 
minister. I rode some distance to the lega- 
tion and the minister was said not to be in. 
The secretary handed me some regulations 
to read. I told him I did not go there to 
read a book or to study, but merely to get a 
pass to look in on Parliament. He then 
explained verbally their position. The 
minister has the right to issue two permits 
a day, only in the order of applications, 
which must be accompanied with letters of 
recommendation! I made it a rule in my 
travels never to attempt to see anything 
that was too difficult. There was so much 
to be seen that was not difficult, and one 
could not see everything, so I failed to see 
the noble Lords and Commons. 

What is called Cleopatra's Needle is near 
the Thames, and it was brought only a few 
years ago from Egypt. I supposed from 
the bluster that it had some connection with 
Cleopatra, but it is only an obelisk like 
those in Paris and Rome, and I suppose it 



— 115 - 

had no more to do with her than they had. 
Nelson's monument and statue are like 
Lee's in New Orleans. They are on Trafal- 
gar Square. Four great lions, designed by I 
forget whom, and two fountains are at the 
base. 

Westminster Abbey is a great church 
where the great of England lie buried. It 
is a large Gothic structure, built in the form 
of a cross. The windows of colored glass 
are very beautiful. I got there a quarter 
to ten. There is service at tep and at three. 
Canon Duckworth, one of the Queen's chap- 
lains, read the lessons from the Bible, Daniel 
and St. Paul. A minor canon led the 
prayers and the singing by the choir of boys 
was very sweet. 

After the service visitors were allowed to 
inspect the place. I fell in with a French 
priest, Father Ran con, who had a book, and 
we went together. At the entrance stand 
statues of Palmerston, Peel, the Cannings, 
Disraeli and others. Near the poet's corner 



— 116 — 

are statues and tombs of England's great 
romancers and writers, Dickens, Thackeray, 
Addison and others. In the poet's corner 
I noticed the names of Milton, Ben Jonson, 
Dryden and Chaucer. You know within 
the last year I have read the three volumes 
of the latter, and I could almost imagine 
that spiritually I was in his genial pres- 
ence. 

There were in that end numerous small 
chapels with monuments to the great, but 
at the extreme end stands the great and 
celebrated chapel, a small church, of Henry 
the Seventh. In the center there is a lat- 
ticed iron enclosure twelve by twenty feet 
and ten feet high, inside of which on an ele- 
vation of five feet are laid the imitation 
bodies of Henry the Seventh and his queen. 
He was the founder of the.House of Tudor, 
and by his wisdom and frugality he amassed 
great wealth and laid the foundation of the 
greatness of his son, Henry the Eighth, and 
his granddaughter, Elizabeth. In Bacon's 



— 117 — 

works at home you will find a very interest- 
ing and particular history of that monarch. 
As Richmond, he overcame Richard the 
Third in battle, and so had a title by con- 
quest, but his marriage with the Princess 
of York gave him a better title, which he 
was loth to acknowledge. He was nothing 
but a nephew or something of the sort to 
Henry the Sixth, but the marriage united 
the two roses of Lancaster and York. 

Outside the Parliament Building there is 
a fine equestrian statue of Edward the Sec- 
ond, the martyred king. 

Your Father, 

W. W. Handlist. 

London, England, Sept. 22, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

After going through Westminster Abbey, 
it was near 1 2 when I got to the National 
Gallery. I stayed there nearly four hours 
and enjoyed it more than any gallery which 
I have visited, in which I was aided greatly 



— 118 — 

by British good sense, for every picture was 
plainly marked, what it was and by whom, 
so there was no need for a book or guide. I 
iiad the day before me, was in no hurry and 
looked at every picture, big and little. 

Any one of much reading can not fail to 
be greatly profited by seeing the paintings 
of Europe, because they refresh the memory 
and recall nearly everything he has read. 

The first rooms were of the British school, 
some of the paintings of which were by 
Landseer, Hogarth, Turner and Joshua 
Reynolds. Then came the French school, 
with fine paintings. In the Spanish school 
I noted the names of Murillo and Velazquez. 
Carraci, Rosa and Guido Reni are of the 
Italian school. The Peel collection, the 
Dutch and Flemish schools are all together. 
There are most beautiful landscape paint- 
ings among them. Here I found some more 
<of the paintings of Rubens — Julius Csesar, 
Peace driving away the horrors of War, the 
Judgment of Paris, and others. Rubens' 



— 119 — 

pictures are distinguished for the brilliancy 
of the colors and the beauty of the faces. 
Rembrandt was another great painter. 

In the Italian school there are two re- 
markable paintings by Polo Veronese, Scorn 
and Respect. Also there is a picture of 
Darius at the feet of Alexander; then some 
of the Tuscan, the Venetian, the Umbrian 
and some other schools. 

This climate is so bracing that I feel like 
moving all the time. I visited St. Paul 
Cathedral, the Whitechapel quarter and 
London Bridge. I took a trip up the 
Thames to visit the botanical gardens of 
Kew, but I started late, having no idea of 
the distance, and just before getting there I 
abandoned the trip and went back. But the 
trip did me good. I saw all the bridges, the 
palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury on 
the far side of the Thames, and found 
that the back of the House of Parliament is 
right on the bank of the river. When I 
came to London I was so completely turned 



- 120 — 

round that I thought the Thames ran from 
the Tower to the House of Parliament, but 
I now find that it runs the other way, and 
after a careful study of my maps I believe 
that London is on the north side of the 
Thames, toward Scotland. 

I went to hear Chevalier, the popular 
Costermonger actor and author, and a great 
many others at the Royal Music Hall and 
Varieties Theatre. I stayed till near mid- 
night and enclose you a programme. 

After a great deal of search I found a 
store that keeps the Rogers razors you want 
and I bought you a nice case. You know I 
have not used a razor since the inauguration 
of President Grant. It is altogether con- 
trary to nature and no improvement in art. 
I look upon a razor as useless property, a 
great waste of time and a great bother. 

Yesterday I went to Regent's Park, which 
is very large and very beautiful. Near 
there are the Zoological Gardens. I paid a 
shilling, went in and stayed all day among 



— 121 — 

the wild birds and beasts. There are very 
pretty colored plants there. The reptile 
and insect structures are covered with glass 
and the temperature is kept at about sev- 
enty. They have everything there from a 
moth and a frog up. But the animal king- 
dom is very extensive, and I shall have to 
refer you to books of natural history for 
description. 

It is getting cold here and I want to get 
down again to twenty-nine latitude. I sail 
for America to-morrow. 

Au re voir. 

Your Father, 

W. W. Handun. 



London, England, Sept. 23, 1893. 
William, My Son: 

I thought I had written you my last letter 
from here, but last night I went to the his- 
torical theater of Drury Lane. 

The new play which is having a run here 
has some political bearing on the Home 



— 122 

Rule question, inasmuch as the first a& 
involves the restoration of Irish tenants. 

"A Life of Pleasure" is the title of the 
play. The heroine of the play is Nora. 
She is the daughter of the evidled tenant, 
who was a substantial farmer who gave her 
a refined and elegant education, far above 
her station. The villain of the play pre- 
tends to be in love with her and at the same 
time he is plotting to eject her father. 
Finally, when the soldiers were clearing the 
premises, her poor but faithful lover, who 
has been to America, comes forward with 
the money and pays the rent. Then they 
find a document which annuls the rent and 
it has to be paid back. A nobleman, who is 
a friend from childhood, exacts a promi-se 
from the villain, and he goes to India to the 
wars. On his return he finds that the vil- 
lain has broken his promise and married his 
own intended bride, besides having com- 
mitted forgery. The heroine concludes to 
marry O'Brien. 



— 123 — 

Captain Dandy is a splendid character. 
He is all of a gentleman and brave as a lion. 
In their parties and courtships he is con- 
stantly popping the question in good earn- 
est, but has the bad luck to be rejected 
more than once. A money-lending Jew 
and he are addressing the same young lady. 
The Jew speaks to the policeman, who prom- 
ises to arrest Dandy and get him out of the 
way. Dandy sees the policeman and gives 
him a shilling for his wife and child. The 
policeman says there are two children, and 
he gives him another shilling. Then he 
says there is a baby and gets another. 
When the time comes for the arrest the Jew 
dares Captain Dandy to lay his hand on 
him, which is an assault. Dandy shows 
him to the other end of the stage, and in 
the hubbub the Jew is arrested and marched 
off to jail. 

There was a great battle in India toward 
the end of the play and the scene was extra- 
ordinary. In fact the whole play is very 



— 124 — 

good and woman is shown to great advan- 
tage. Drnry Lane is a very large theater , 
and the house was crowded. 

I got lost both going to and coming from 
the theater in those narrow streets, Drury 
Lane, Fetter Lane and Chancery Lane. 

I am not sure that I have mentioned that 
I visited the law courts of London. The 
building is one of those substantial edifices 
which they build in the old countries, and it 
reminds one of the two splendid courthouses 
on the sides of the Cathedral in New Or- 
leans , which were built by Almonaster in the 
eighteenth century, but the chief justice's 
room is not as fine as our Supreme Court 
room,, and the rooms of our inferior courts 
are tetter and larger than those of their 
courts of the first instance. Our Spanish 
Benefactor had the walls made of thick ma- 
sonry, suitable for a tropical climate, cool 
in summer and warm in winter. The same 
building in London has served for ages. 
And yet the young lawyers in New Orleans 



— 125 — 

are continually agitating the question of 
building a new courthouse, aided perhaps 
by politicians, to give somebody a job in 
building some flimsy American structure. 
Your Father, 

W. W. Handlin. 

New Orleans, La., Oct., 1893. 
William, My Son: 

Home again ! It is hardly worth while to 
record my trip from Europe, but some 
things were so vividly impressed upon my 
mind that I will set them down here and try 
to rescue them from the oblivion of eternal 
night. They might as well go along with 
the other stuff. On the 23d of September 
I sailed from Southampton on the then 
crowded greyhound steamer Berlin. An 
educated Englishman occupied the same 
room. A fancy struck me to travel incog- 
nito. He asked me my name, and I said, 
€i William Wallace," and he remarked, "the 
Kingmaker." In the dining room, on enter- 



— 126 — 

ing, I noticed the chambermaid, who was 
rather good looking, very busily engaged in 
patting her foot and singing, " After the 
Ball is Over. M It struck me as rather a 
pretty song, which I had never heard be- 
fore, but in coming over a good many others 
were humming it, and all the way from New 
York I heard nothing else but — 

"After the ball is over, 
After the break of day, 
Many a heart is aching, 
After the ball." 

It was a fashionable song which will have 
its day. 

Before daylight we got into New York 
harbor and the dawn revealed the grand 
Bartholdi tower. I hastened on to the ferry 
and crossed to the railroad office to get a 
ticket, and as I was getting short I asked 
for a second class ticket, which was forty- 
two dollars, and a first class was only forty 
dollars, a thing I could not understand. I 
was greatly surprised at such cost, as for 



— 127 — 

two hundred francs one can travel nearly 
all over Europe; but there the railroads are 
run by the governments for the benefit of 
the people. I took the Southern route, as 
I had often been on Northern roads. 

The Chesapeake route to Richmond is 
charming. Richmond is a hilly city, and 
as there was a stop for some hours I strolled 
over the capitol grounds. A life-size statue 
of Henry Clay is interesting from its polite 
old-ladylike appearance. Some distance 
down the train stopped at a country station, 
and I was standing on the platform. I saw 
the conductor stand talking with an old 
citizen and overheard what they said, as 
they kept looking at me. The man took 
me for some public man he knew, and the 
conductor shook his head and said, u No; it 
looks sorter like 'im, but it taint him.'* 
Then I knew I was in my own country. 

All the way down through the South I 
could not help noticing how the farms and 



- 128 — 

the lands seemed to be worn out, neglected 
and abandoned. There seemed to be no 
grasses or fertilizers used, and in this re- 
spect the contrast with the careful cultiva- 
tion in Germany is striking, where lands 
have been made to support a teeming popu- 
lation for centuries. But I am afraid to 
pursue this subject, as Kipling wrote: 

"And one long since a pillar of the state, 
As mnd between the beams is wrought, 

And one, who wrote on phosphates for the crop, 
Is subject matter of his own report." 

At Montgomery we stopped a day on ac- 
count of the storm, which had destroyed the 
bridge on the gulf shore, and then we came 
by Meridian and the Northeastern road. 

I should be glad to go to Europe every 
summer, where I could converse in the for- 
eign languages, especially Italian and Ger- 
man, but the prospect is not bright for good 
times, such as we have had under the high 



— 129 — 

tariff, as a low tariff will be put on. The 
extra session of Congress does great harm. 

Your father, 

W. W. Handun. 



^S 



— 130 



HOW NOT TO DO IT. 

INEFFICIENCY OF AMERICAN CONSULS IN 
ITALY SHOWN BY JUDGE HANDLIN. 

This story is a tale of the inefficiency of 
the American consular system, especially 
applied to its operations in Italy. Those 
who have read in Little Dorrit of the famous 
Circumlocution office, or "How Not to Do 
It," can appreciate the meaning of the pro- 
test which arises from an American citizen 
and resident of the United States against 
the army of inefficients who seem mainly to 
constitute the personnel of Uncle Sam's 
hired men over in foreign lands. 

Living down in the third district of this 
city are three aged ladies, poor, infirm and 
deprived of many of the comforts and neces- 
sities which should fall to the lot of those 
advanced in years. They are sisters, their 
family name being Paturzo, but they have 



— in. — 
become wives, and Mme. Fortune Giraud, 
Mme. Feraud and Mme. Marin are the 
names by which they are now known. 
Their father came to this country years ago 
and married a Creole lady, and to them, on 
American soil, these three children were 
born. He had left behind, in Sorrento, near 
Naples, a fine estate. This fell into the 
hands of an unscrupulous relative, and it 
was in the efforts to regain this heritage 
that the unexpected inefficiency of the 
United States consuls there was developed, 
and their disregard of the rights and de- 
mands of American born citizens. 

Mr. W. W. Handlin, the well known at- 
torney of this city, was in 1893 about to 
take a pleasure trip over the European con- 
tinent, when he was asked to undertake 
this case for the three old ladies. He con- 
sented to do so, free of cost, and left New 
Orleans by the steamer Akaba and proceeded 
to Bremen. He visited Berlin, Dresden, 
Vienna, Paris, London, Venice, Rome, Na- 



— 132 - 

pies, and finally Sorrento, staying in Italy 
over three weeks to try to adjust the claim, 
and starting it then, it has lain dormant 
ever since. Judge Handlin has no hopes 
of anything now, but that the exposition of 
the case might do some possible benefit to 
some one or any one he gives it free vent. 

In speaking to a States reporter about the 
affair, Judge Handlin said: 

"On the eve of my departure for Europe 
in 1893, my friend, the late notary, Marcel 
Ducros, requested me to recover the inher- 
itance of Mme. Giraud and her two sisters, 
and they gave me a full power of attorney. 
Knowing the good faith observed in France 
and Germany in transmitting funds belong- 
ing to heirs, I supposed from the authentic 
documents that it would be an easy matter. 
But I had not then had to do with the Ital- 
ians of Naples, nor with the United States 
consuls there." 

"What was your experience in Naples?" 

"When I arrived in Naples, after visiting 



— 133 — 

the palace, the museums and Pompeii, I 
thought I would take a run of half an hour 
down to Sorrento, situated on a bluff on the 
west side of the bay, and settle up the busi- 
ness. The town is celebrated as the birth- 
place of Torquato Tasso, whose statue stands 
on the public square. I found the two prop- 
erties which belonged to Joseph Paturzo, the 
father of the ladies, and his brother Mat- 
thew, the only heirs. One was a large pal- 
ace-looking house with extensive grounds. 
It was occupied by a cousin of the heirs, 
who was a bank director in Sorrento, but he 
was not at home and I was refused admit- 
tance by the family. In all I spent a week 
or ten days, and when I got an interview 
with Mr. Archangel Paturzo he seemed to 
be ignorant of any relations in America and 
gave me no satisfaction. I threatened suit 
and returned to Naples." 

"Did you bring the suit?" 

"No; I tried hard, but could not. I saw 
four different lawyers. They all spoke 



-134- 

French, and we communicated in that lan- 
guage. But a more conscienceless lot of 
wordy , parrot-like men I never saw. Finalty 
I found one who undertook the recovery of 
the estate if a considerable sum for expenses 
and costs was furnished. He receipted to 
me for the amount, sixty dollars, and all the 
documentary proofs, but in four years he 
has never filed a paper in court, and only 
written two letters, in the last of which he 
wanted four times as much money as he 
had got. Then, abandoning all hope, I 
endeavored to get back the evidence to re- 
turn it to the heirs, but he holds it with im- 
punity, doubtless for blackmailing pur- 



n 



poses. 

"But what about the consuls?" 
"Well, I have had to do with three con- 
suls at Naples and another in a town near 
by, and each one seemed to be more igno- 
rant than the other. Their method seems 
to be evasion and shifting the duty on some 
one else. They say, "That is private busi- 



— 135 — 

ness," as though every class of rights as to 
person and property of the citizen is not 
private. Probably some of the voluminous 
correspondence would throw some light on 
how little Americans have to expect in the 
way of protection. I turn it over to you." 
The Judge then handed the letters to the 
reporter, which read as follows: 

New Orleans, La., Sept. 21, 1897. 
John Sherman, Secretary of State : 

Sir — Shortly after your induction into 
office I laid before you the complaint of the 
three sisters of this city, Mme. Giraud, Mme. 
Feraud and Mme. Marin. They are all 
widows. I have been working at their claim 
for the inheritance of their father, Joseph 
Paturzo, of Sorrento, near Naples, since 
1893, when I was there, without any result, 
on account of inefficiency of the consul at 
Naples and his consular agent, Ciampa, at 
Sorrento. The latter has never deigned to 
answer a letter, and although it appears that 



— 136 — 

he has all the evidence of heirship in his 
possession, it is impossible to get the evi- 
dence returned, and his superior at Naples 
has exacted no report and returned no 
replies to our importunities, you have done 
nothing. From all of my reading and 
study, I should judge if these ladies, native 
born citizens, can get no better assistance 
and support, there might as well be no gov- 
ernment and no representatives abroad. 

The lazy, unprincipled Neapolitans are 
allowed to hold on to the inheritance of the 
heirs here, and the agent, Ciampa, is upheld 
by our consul and his government. In the 
meantime the so-called government of the 
United States, with fear and trembling, pays 
for the worthless lives of Sicilians in Louisi- 
ana. What good are the big war ships? Sir, 
I trust you will take such action in this mat- 
ter, now brought to your personal attention, 
as your sense of justice and gallantry may 
dictate. Yours, etc., 

W. W. Handun. 



— 137 — 

The Judge also gave the reporter some of 
the correspondence which showed the atti- 
tude of the United States consuls toward 
unfortunate Americans in foreign lands. 
Here they are: 

Department of State, 
Washington, Oct. 26, 1897. 

W. W. Handlin, Esq., New Orleans, La. : 

Sir — I have to acknowledge the receipt of 
a postal card from you, dated the 23d in- 
stant, in regard to the case of Mme. Giraud 
and others. 

As you have already been informed, the 
matter is a private one between you and the 
commercial agent at Castellamare. The De- 
partment can take no further steps in the 
case. 

Respe&fully yours, 

Thos. W. Cridler, 
Third Assistant Secretary. 



138 — 

United States Consulate, 
Naples, Oct. 6, 1897. 
W. W. Handlin, Esq., New Orleans: 

Dear Sir — Having just assumed the du- 
ties of United States consul at Naples, I 
know nothing of the subject matter of your 
complaining letter, but as you represent the 
estate to be in Sorrento, you should address 
the U. S. consul at Castellamare, a fact of 
which I am told you have heretofore been 
informed, and, as now, at the expense of 
this consulate. 

You can save time and expense for your- 
self, as well as for this office, by addressing 
your future complaints to the proper con- 
sulate. 

A. H. Bijington, 

U. S. Consul. 

"What is the use of lying?" said the 
Judge. "The court which has jurisdiction 
of the estate in Sorrento sits in Naples. 
The lawyer who has embezzled my evidence 



139' — 

is there. Truly, it is necessary to 'know 
nothing of the subject matter,' not to know 
this. How have I been misinformed at any- 
body's expense, that the consul at Castell- 
amare is the proper man, when the United 
States goverment makes an allowance to the 
consulate for postage? 

"And my case is not an isolated one. In 
fact, the policy which this government has 
pursued for several years toward her citizens 
resident in foreign countries, however in- 
sulted or outraged, has been weak and con- 
temptible." 

The Judge handed the newspaper man an 
editorial clipping from the Louisville Journal 
which rather hit the nail on the head. It 
read as follows: 

u The Roman emperor, on hearing of 
Herod the Great's wholesale butcher}^ of his 
sons, remarked: 'I'd rather be Herod's hog 
than Herod's son.' Herod, being a Jew, 
was very lenient toward hogs. Now, after 
mature reflection, it appears to me that, so 



— 140 — 

far as protection is concerned, it is better to 
be an American hog than an American citi- 
zen in a strait, for the government never 
fails to protect American pork." 

Jndge Handlin's work was for charity and 
at his own expense, and this is all he has 
gotten in retnrn. 



^6 



— 141 — 
CELEBRATED BRIGANDS. 

The bandit Fioravanti (First Flower), 
just killed near Rome, was celebrated in 
brigandage, where for years central and 
southern Italy has been afflicted. Luciano 
Fioravanti was born in 1842 at Aqua Pen- 
dente. He was first a stable boy and after- 
wards a coachman. In 1880 he married the 
niece of the bandit Biagini, by whom he had 
two children. Ten years later he was sen- 
tenced to some months in jail for having 
stolen a pair of boots. Fioravanti preferred 
the open air to the prison and became a 
brigand, following the uncle of his wife in 
spoliation and plunder. In 1892, with the 
brigand Betinelli, he had an encounter with 
the carabiniers in which they were wounded. 
Later on, with Biagini and Tiburzi (pro- 
nonnced Teboortsey), he killed Betinelli 
because he had betrayed the band. In 
1895, * n another encounter with the carabi- 
niers, Biagini was killed, but Fioravanti 



— 142 — 

escaped. He escaped again in 1896, when 
the terrible Tiburzi was killed in the forest 
Capalbio. Fioravanti in that fight was 
saved as by a miracle from the shower of 
bullets of the carabiniers, who surprised the 
two bandits at dinner in a country house. 
He then remained the sole survivor of the 
Tiburzi band, and from that day the brig- 
and, feared by all, lived in the leafy forests 
of Mount Lamone, and he was constantly 
assisted by the espionage of the shepherds 
and other inhabitants of those forests, who 
furnished him with food, clothing, cigars 
and spending money. With the aid of the 
people he compelled to follow him, he or- 
dered first one and then another to pay con- 
tributions, and in this way he succeeded in 
collecting a few thousand lire, upon which 
he lived; and when the citizens refused to 
pay his tax he set fire to their houses. Last 
year the Marquis Guglieluri, for having re- 
fused a few thousand lire, had to suffer a 
much heavier loss. 



— 143 — 

Fioravanti held a most brilliant rank of 
service. He was accused under thirteen 
warrants of arrest for theft, robbery, at- 
tempted murder, extortion and murder. 
Finally Frontflower, on whose head there 
' was a price of four thousand lire by the gov- 
ernment, was buried in a neglected country 
graveyard. His brain was carried off by 
the doctors, placed in alcohol and presented 
to Professor Lombroso, who desired it for 
his studies. 
[Translated from Italian July 20, 1900.] 



THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

The Garden of Eden was a delightful 
place, with a very equable climate. People 
were satisfied with their condition and had 
no undue aspirations or desires. It is true 
of human beings that they think what they ' 
are accustomed to is right. Except man, 
all other animals are in a state of nature to 
this day. Nothing unseemly is seen in the 
natural form of an animal. It is habit 



- - 144 — 

which governs in this respect. The great 
statne of Pompey at Rome, is in a state of 
nudity, and a lady can behold it without 
embarrassment. 

Now, the devil is a necessary and well- 
defined character in the affairs of men. 
Everything was lovely in the Garden of 
Eden until he entered there. The people 
did not know that they needed any clothing 
until he told them, and then they covered 
their bodies with fig leaves. 

In this view, assistance has been sought. 



I SON OCHO? 

Once, in the afternoon, I was sitting on a 
seat in a recess of the charming wood of the 
Alameda in the city of Mexico. An ele- 
gant carriage on the driveway stopped in 
front to afford the occupants an opportunity 
to take a stroll through the shady walks. 
A Mexican grandee, with a nurse, or guar- 
dian, and a number of children, all about 
the same size and splendidly attired, issued 



— 145 — 

from the vehicle. He was a tall, well 
formed man, and his face beamed with kind- 
ness and happiness. 

As they were passing through the open 
circle, he suddenly checked himself and 
asked: u $ Son ocho?" (Are there eight?) 
I could not help thinking that there was 
something ridiculous in the uncertainty of 
the father in having to count his children 
to see if they were all there. 



SELF. 

Many are blamed for selfishness. That 
is all wrong. It is a cardinal principle in 
nature itself. But for selfishness the crea- 
tion as now constituted could not exist. It 
lies under the principle of the attraction of 
cohesion. See, with what consistency the 
drop of water preserves itself in the descent 
from the cloud. The chop in the live tree 
closes with time. When the nail or the 
wedge is extracted from the dead wood, the 
rent is closed or becomes smaller. "Nature 



— 146 — 

abhors a vacuum," is a maxim which 
proves the tendency of a person or thing to 
restore, protect and preserve itself. And 
this forms character. 



A SINGULAR CASE. 

Don Jose: 

Amiguito— Tengo un buen caso y muy 
singular. Quiero ver a v. mafiana por esta 

parte para hacerle verlo. Yo hubiera reci- i 

- 

bido $125 6 $130* No quiseron, y ademas 
me scandalizaron. Ahora, he descubierto 
que por la ley me deben $830. 

I Que le parece ? <? Que dice V.? Quando 
el Diablo guia a los malvados se hechan a 
su perdicion. 

Octobre 12 de 1899. 



SPIRITS. 



The testimony of visits from spirits is 
both curious and interesting. My mother- 
in-law, Mme. Victoire Azelie Mader, was a 
lady. She had read a great deal and was 



— 147 — 

very agreeable company. We always spoke 
in French. She lived in my house for six- 
teen years before she died , at the age of sev- 
enty-five. My boy Joseph was her pet from 
a little fellow. After the old lady's death 
there was some talk of her being seen about 
the premises and it was thought she had 
come for some one. The child, it appeared/ 
had seen something and was afraid to go 
down stairs. My bedroom looked to the 
east, and one morning when the sun was 
up, or about to rise, as I opened my eyes, I 
saw the old lady coming hurriedly into my 
door, a little stooped forward, dressed all in 
black, with a vail partially over her face, 
and when she got about the middle of the 
room, as my eyes were fully opened, her 
well-known form suddenly disappeared. 
When I went down to breakfast my spirits 
were singularly enlivened and refreshed 
and I said that I had just seen the old lady. 
The lively scene or vision is still imprinted 
on a tablet of my memory. 



— 148 — 

In the winter an ugly old buzzard, a 
vulture, flew over into our rear yard from 
somewhere in the neighborhood and the two 
boys rushed out to see it. My blood ran 
cold. Shortly after, my poor Joseph, who 
was then sixteen and reading Caesar at col- 
lege, took sick of pneumonia or typhoid 
fever and died. The doctors did not know 
what it was. 



THE PRESIDENT'S RECEPTION. 

Just before the war, in i860, when the 
people were surfeited with prosperity, every- 
body was traveling. Having made the tour 
of the North as far as Quebec, I happened 
in Washington on the arrival in the even- 
ing of the Prince of Wales. There were 
fireworks and all sorts of amusements, and 
Washington was full of people. The next 
day President Buchanan was to hold a re- 
ception. We entered the White House in 
a long line, single file. The President was 
a large old gentleman with a large head, 



— 149 — 

but with little hair. The prince was rather 
a small, fair, slender young man. I forget 
if the President shook hands or not, but the 
prince, about five feet off, made a distinct 
bow as each one of us passed and made a 
slight stop and bow. Lord Lyons and the 
Duke of Newcastle stood a little to the right . 
Lyons was a large, dark, homely, intellect- 
ual looking man. The old duke was large, 
stout and pleasant, with plain, comfortable 
clothing. Being a pushing young man, I 
went up to the duke and had some common- 
place talk. I presented my companion, Dr. 
Vegas, and he seemed pleased. After half 
an hour the people began to scatter, and, 
perhaps being tired of the exercise, it was 
announced that the reception was at an end, 
the door was closed, with thousands yet to 
come in the line who were deprived of the 
satisfaction and pleasure of a bow from the 
prince. 



— 150 — 
KIPUNG. 

The value of Kipling seems to consist in 
the very healthy morality of his writings. 
Nearly all his pieces give good moral les- 
sons. This comes from good training and 
from the fact, if I remember rightly, that 
both his father and his mother sprang from 
families of reverends. 

" At the Pit's Mouth" shows vice in its 
nakedness, and therefore it is to be shunned. 
His novel, " The Light That Failed," is a 
work about painters and paintings. His 
father was an artist, and hence he knew 
whereof he wrote. 

A parallel may be drawn between friend- 
ship and love. The beauty of true friend- 
ship, where it does exist, is drawn by a 
master hand, while love is not presented in 
so favorable a light. Dick, the hero, pre- 
serves his purity of character until death in 
the arms of his friend, Torpenhow, the 
thought of whose friendship had saved. him 
from the temptation of Bessie, and he had 



— 151 — 

saved Turpenhow from the same. Dick's 
love for Maisie, not reciprocated, and the 
absurdity of his will in her favor show that 
such love is a tyrannical, unreasoning pas- 
sion, and is "the child of folly." 

Quis Epaminondam musicaih docuit ? 
Who taught Epaminondas music? 



THE HOUND. 

McK., an old college mate, a jolty good 
fellow, a crack shot, a young lawyer in the 
count}'' town and a lover of good whiskey, 
came down to the farm on the Ohio river, 
opposite the head of Hurricane Island, to 
spend a week with us. Mr. Wallace, a 
large slave owner, lived opposite the lower 
end of the island. He had a fine pack of 
deerhounds, and old Uncle (5-aben was the 
sporting master. Uncle Gaben was a pen- 
sioner, an old Virginia gentleman who had 
spent his fortune and who sometimes taught 
school. He had a habit of talking to him- 
self. We wrote down to him of our friend 



— 152 — 

Mack's arrival and requested him to join us 
with the hounds in a hunt on the island. 
He accepted and answered by a note stating 
that he would meet one of us and cross over 
to the lower end of the island and drive up, 
and that Mack could stand toward the upper 
end. On the following day my brother 
crossed over with Uncle Gaben and the 
hounds, while I landed Mack above. He 
got out in the heavy timber and under- 
growth and heard the horns. Presently he 
saw something bounding along over the 
high weeds and blazed away with his rifle. 
The leader of the pack, with a loud yelp, 
tumbled over dead. Mack turned toward 
home. The hunt was over. When Uncle 
Gaben and my brother heard the shot and 
the hound's loud voice, Uncle Gaben said, 
"He has killed my dog. I would rather 
have lost the best horse we have." My 
brother said, u Let's go and see." But Uncle 
Gaben said, "Oh, no; I don't want to see 
him." Mack returned to his office in town 



- - 153 — 

rather crestfallen over the unfortunate re- 
sult of his hunting excursion. 



THE MARE. 

I started on a trip of several miles through 
the woods on Jeniry, a fine sorrel mare of 
my father, with a Lancaster rifle, thinking 
to do some hunting on the way. When I 
reached the top of a high ridge, a flock of 
wild turkeys started up and ran through the 
trees and brush. I hitched the mare and 
went tearing down the slope after the tur- 
keys. I cocked the gun, but forgot to let 
down the hammer. After a circuit I got 
back to the ridge, a hundred yards from the 
mare. The devil put the idea into my head 
that if she were a deer she would be a good 
shot. I leveled the rifle at her heart, 
touched the hair trigger, and she fell. I 
ran to her and tried to stop the bullet hole, 
having read about the staunching of wounds. 
But she made a last struggle and died. It 
reminds me of what I witnessed later on. 



— 154 — ' 

A stout, healthy man was shot down by one 
in his company at the siege of Granada, Ni- 
caragua, as they rushed out through the 
jungle to strengthen a weak point against the 
besiegers . A sudden quarrel , loud words from 
him, a shot from behind, he fell struggling 
for life, while the others moved on. I only 
write the truth, that I am pushed to write 
by something which draws me to it. Well, 
I returned home to the farm, carrying the 
saddle and the gun. Thousands of beeves 
and some horses in Paris are slain daily for 
human food, which the carnivorous nature 
of man makes necessary. But notwith- 
standing the consciousness of all these 
things, and after a long life, I never think 
of my own thoughtlessness on that occasion 
but an uncontrollable sadness comes over 
me, and I feel sorry for the unmerited death 
of poor Jenny ! 

My father returned home after an absence 
of some weeks, but he never mentioned the 
mare to me. Doubtless he thought that my 



— 155 — 

own mortification and remorse were suf- 
ficient punishment. However, he said to 
my mother, "if it had been a deer he'd have 
killed it." One day, at Rome, Epictitus 
went out and saw a woman weeping because 
she had lost her son. The next day he 
went out and saw a woman weeping because 
she had broken her pitcher. 



THE FABLE. 

A wagoner, whose team was stalled , was 
kneeling down and praying to Jupiter to 
help to get him out of the mire. A friend, 
passing that way, called out: " Get up, 
man, whip your horses, put your own 
shoulder to the wheel, and then Jupiter will 
help you." 

Note — I handed the above to a client, 
who hesitated to take the forward steps I 
advised. 



A DREAM. 

I thought ni}' disembodied soul stood 



— 156 — 

above my mangled and bleeding body. I 
saw robbers open my bead and take an 
enormons jewel therefrom. A horde of 
savages pnrsned the robbers from Canada 
to Cape Horn. A congressman and a chief 
justice were in the gang. Julius Caesar 
brandished his broad sword. I saw the 
Eternal stretch forth his hand, and I heard 
him, mit lauter Stimme, say : u Accursed 
be the robbers of that jewel ! " I saw my 
dead and buried son, Joseph, invested in 
priest's robes, standing in a pulpit on a 
cloud and preaching to that horde of sav- 
ages, the chief justice and the congressman, 
with a voice that filled the whole world. He 
said : u Be good. Read the Bible." Eschew 
bar rooms. " A slave said: " The jewel is 
of great value. He was a good man." 

The Sublime — u Este retrato esun gallo." 
Esta burla 01 en la mesa del almuerzo del 
senor Licenciado, Don Ignacio de Jaurigui. 



— 157 — 

PLEASURE. 

I deem it a most exquisite pleasure to 
lean back on my steps and gaze at the ever 
varying tints in the white clouds by moon- 
light. No colors of art or from the painter's 
brush can equal them. The soft, milky 
white, the pale, blended red, have a charm 
for my soul. Many a night have I passed 
the silent hours in total relaxation while 
enjo}dng the lavish beauties from the etern- 
al painter. Ojala that the great beyond of 
eternal happiness or misery might not be 
worse ! An airy nothing. Humbert said : 
1 ' It is nothing," non c' ) entente. 



^r 



— 158 — 

New Orleans, La., Jan. 3, 1901. 
Mr. Ed. T. Manning, Clerk of City Council. 
Dear Sir : I am glad my ordinance pro- 
hibiting benches and seats abont bar rooms 
and saloons is now a law. Bnt I see my 
ordinance against the mosqnitos has not 
passed yet. Truly, 

W. W. Handlin. 



New Orleans, La., Aug. 24, 1901. 
Mr. B. Moran, Clerk, etc. 

Dear Sir: In the case of Jere Jones, nine 
if not ten years old, who committed the of- 
fence and ran, which was an evidence of 
guilt, Judge Hughes was too impatient to 
hear the ' l whole truth ' ' ; said the boy was 
under the age of responsibility, and under- 
took to catechise me on the law. I answered 
that I did not go there to be examined on 
the law, but to give testimony. On re- 
flection, I have concluded to give him the 
benefit of my answer, as he appears to be a 
gentleman, though scant of knowledge, and 



- 159 — 

he may mean well. He wanted to know, 
while giving my testimony, if I was ac- 
quainted with the penal code of Louisiana. 
I should smile ! The criminal law of Loui- 
siana is founded on the common law of 
England. I leave for you and him to read : 
Russell, vol. I, pp. i to 10, by which you 
will find that the age of irresponsibility is 
under seven years, and " that an infant 
under eight years old may be guilt}^ of 
murder and shall be hanged for it." 
Yours truly, 

W. W. Handlin. 



THE TREATING HABIT. 

There is a very great contrast between 
the manners of Mexicans and Americans. 
Good manners in the city of Mexico, the 
Paris of America, requires high and low not 
to accept. " Will yon take dinner ?" " No, 
gracias! " u Will you take a drink?" 
" No, gr actus! " 

Not so with Americans. They hang 



— 160 — 

around the slums, waiting for an invitation. 
But the rule, even with men calling them- 
selves gentlemen, is, not to conclude any 
business transaction without "well, let's 
have a drink." Hence, the Mexicans are 
sober people and the Americans are drunk- 
ards. 



CZOLGOSZ (pronounced Golgotha) 
CLEVELAND SALOON. 

"Shortly after coming to this city fifteen 
years ago, Leon's father started a saloon, 
in the rear of which was a small building 
used as a rendezvous and meeting place for 
a dozen or fifteen men who called themselves 
anarchists. Leon was too young to be a 
member of that gang, but he was a great 
listener to the harangues that these men in- 
dulged in, and they probably had some effe6l 
on his youthful mind." 



^6 



— 161 - 
HOODLUMS. 

To the Honorable the Mayor of New 
Orleans. 

Sir : As an old citizen and knowing 
whereof I speak, I feel it a duty to give to 
you, who have the well being of the people 
in your keeping, the benefit of my views. 

In the last two weeks, homicides of two 
young men, one twenty -nine and the other 
twenty-six, have been committed in bar 
rooms, because they refused to pay a few 
cents for their drinks. A more reasonable 
remedy would have been to have had them 
arrested, as they were not wholly re- 
sponsible when badly intoxicated. How- 
ever, having been a sufferer from drunken 
hoodlums during the late administration, 
I cannot refrain from saying that the bar- 
keepers are doing some good by the exterm- 
ination of the drunken ruffians, who habit- 
ually carry their loaded pistols to the terror 
of good people. These homicides are voted 



— 162 — 

all right, under the plea that they are justi- 
fiable in self-defense. But whisky is at the 
bottom of it all. If the facilities for drunk- 
enness had been fewer, the young men 
might have been saved. 

It is said that the Filipinos regard with 
horror the civilization of Americans, because 
they have established six hundred bar- 
rooms in Manila. You will doubtless agree 
that it would be better for New Orleans if 
every grocery bar were sunken in the Mis- 
sissippi. Therefore, it behooves your admi- 
nistration to raise the license to the highest 
figure in its power, if not done already. 
Truly, 

W. W. Handlin. 
July 2nd, 1900. 



WEBSTER COKE. 
Truth is stranger than fiction. 

When a young man in Princeton, Ky., 
I was in the habit of playing drafts with an 
old lawyer, who was a friend of mine. One 



163 — 

day, when there was a lull in our favorite 
game, he leaned back and related to me his 
troubles in raising his boy. Said he {dijo)\ 
u Webster Coke was a good, practical boy in 
some respects, and I destined him for the 
bar, to follow me in my practice and inherit 
m}^ library. He was of a quick, nervous 
temperament and his capacity appeared 
good ; but he made but little progress at 
school. When I asked the teacher what 
was the matter and if he lacked ability, he 
said "no." Then I said may be he is lazy, 
and he said " perhaps." During his stay 
in the primarj^ school he often played hooky, 
and I found from notes in my diary that it 
happened four times, just at New Moon. 
Sir, the moon has more influence on people 
than is generally believed. But as to 
strength and manliness, Coke was hard to 
beat. He would be a soldier boy in the State 
militia in spite of all I could do, for I knew 
it would interfere with his course at college. 
My ambition was for Webster to graduate, 



— 164 — 

esteeming it a great honor. At last, he got 
into the class of belles lettres, and there he 
stuck. Finally, he got so much larger than 
the boys of his class that he was ashamed, 
and actually quit on me, and had cleared 
out from College some days before I knew it. 
Worse than that, he sold my latin lexicon 
and a fine copy of Horace, which I prized 
because it had been presented to me by my 
professor when I was at college. He want- 
ted to go to work, and I was surprised one 
day when he said ' papa, I don't want to be 
no lawyer. A lawyer is one long bum ! • 
Then, I saw it was no use to bother any 
longer with Webster Coke. But I said, ' I 
am no millionaire, what will you do ?' He 
said, he thought he would be a civil engineer 
and he is all right now." • 

We then adjourned to a neighboring coffee 
house and enjoyed a cup of chocolate. 



— 165 - 
CAPTAIN CARTER OF THE AKABA. 

Captain Carter was left an orphan and 
his account of the end of his father and 
mother was tragical. He said that his fa- 
ther and grandfather were sea captains, and 
that his father and mother were lost in a 
storm on a small vessel at Yarmouth or 
some other fishing coast. When his father 
saw that there was no hope against the vio- 
lence of the wind he took his mother and 
lashed her to the foremast and then lashed 
himself to another mast and so they were 
both found dead. 

He worked his way. from scrubbing boy 
up, and was often rewarded with a curse or 
a kick. When he was examined for a cap- 
tain's commission he had but little time to 
spare and while young fellows under the 
civil service rules had difficulties, he had no 
difficulty. The poor boy evolved in the 
sterling man. 

The greatest intellect is reported to have 



— 166 — 

said: u ubi intenderis ingeniunt, valet\ si 
lubido possidet ea dominatur, animus nihil 
valet." But the poet, with some difference, 
is strong: 

"There never yet was human power 
Which could evade, if unforgiven, 

The patient search and vigil long 
Of him who treasures up a wrong." 

On the voyage, I had the place of honor 
at the right of the captain at table and Mil- 
ler, the engineer, occupied the lower end. 
One day they had marmalade, and the mate 
said, "the chicken said, Marmalaid (me)." 

We ran well in the Gulf stream , over 200 
miles in 24 hours, but afterwards she got 
slow, and when they spoke of the forty hun- 
dred horse power, I remarked that if they 
were Texas mustangs I hoped they would 
get up a stampede. Carter looked grum, 
but the twinkle in Miller's eye showed that 
he appreciated the joke. 

As we were nearing Bremerhaven, the 
German pilot boarded the Akaba. He was 



— 167 — 

an urbane gentleman, but Carter stood off 
at a distance without saying a word. The 
pilot looked at two old compasses on the 
vessel and seemed to be puzzled. Then he 
came up to me softly and asked " is the com- 
pass right?" I said, u O, I think so!" The 
captain looked daggers and the voice rolled 
out, "don't speak to the pilot!" I went ov- 
er to him and said, "Captain, he just asked 
me if the compass was right and I said I 
thought so. Carter simply answered: u You 
don't know." 

An hour afterwards I gave him a copy of 
my book, bade him good-bye and said I 
hoped he would overlook m}^ mistake. 
"Oh," said he, "that's nothing." Next 
year, he'took my son on a round trip to En- 
gland from Pensacola. I had another les- 
son about talking too much on that trip. 
Standing on the front of a street car on the 
busy part of the street Unter den Linden, 
and asking a good many questions about 
buildings, the good humored, sturdy, Ger- 



— 168 — 

man car driver looked at me and said, 
"Bleiben Sie schweigsatn!" 



THE FARMER. 

I was born in Livingston county, Ken- 
tucky, and niy father, ever remembered and 
respected, settled on a farm of six hundred 
acres, one hundred being cleared and the 
rest woods, which was partly purchased by 
him and partly inherited from my maternal 
grandfather, Trimble, who had emigrated 
from South Carolina. That place was in 
the hills of Kentucky, about five miles from 
the Ohio river on the big road to the West. 
When I was a boy, about 1835, the wolves 
would howl in the night in a hundred yards 
of the house. I learn now that there are 
many farms on that land. Farming was 
primitive in that region then, though 
they say that there is now a great change, 
and that German methods of thrift and com- 
fort prevail to protect man and beast against 
the cold. It makes my heart ache now 



— 169 — 

when I think of the suffering in those early 
days. One rainy winter night my good 
mother said to me: "You ought to be thank- 
ful that God has given you a warm bed, 
when the beasts of the field have no shelter." 
Man should be a God to the beasts of the 
field. The horses were provided for in 
stables with clap board roofs and did not fare 
so badly. The hogs would get together 
fifteen or twenty in one bed, and keep com- 
fortable by their own heat. The sheep were 
protected by their wool. But the poor cows! 
No houses or sheds were made for them, 
though it would have been easy where tim- 
ber was so plentiful. Often feed for cattle 
was scarce and in the winter there was no 
grass. They would get very lean, thick 
mould would form in the hair on their backs 
and a kind of grubs or worms, called wolves, 
I think, would plant themselves in the solid 
flesh under the skin. Again, the poor 
things would get. the hollow horn for want 
of nourishment. In the spring of the year, 



— 170 — 

in the first open spell, there was great dan- 
ger of the cows wandering away after grass 
and getting lost. I remember a very sad 
case. 

THE cow. 
A young cow for her first calf was 
missing in a cold spell in the Spring, 
I forget her name, and everybody went 
in a search. Two or three miles down 
a branch, I found her on the lift, she could 
not get up, near the house of an old couple, 
noted for being stingy. They had seen her 
there from the beginning, but had not given 
her a mouthful to eat, though the old wo- 
man said she had tried to save the calf, 
which had died. The mother was still alive 
and when I reported, the whole family went 
with a yoke of oxen and a sled to bring her 
home. My mother reached her a blade of 
fodder, and I well remember the eager reach 
she made for it. When we got her home we 
swung her on her feet and made every effort 
to save her life, but in vain, she died, starb. 



— 171 — 

Sometimes, I hate to think of these things, 
people are so much like other animals. 
Farmers, I am convinced, should consult 
their almanacs more than they do. The 
seasons of planting and reaping depend a 
great deal on the weather. For forty-six 
years I have lived in cities, but in a small 
way I have observed the sprouting of seeds 
and the growth of plants. 



^ 



— 172 — 

T. J. SEMMES — CHAS. M. EMERSON. 

When Senator Semines died, a great deal 
was said about him and about what he said. 
As soon as the Confederacy collapsed, he 
went to President Johnson for a pardon and 
when asked what he had done, he said he 
liad done everything in his power, and the 
president told him to u go to work." He 
borrowed $100. Repeatedly, in after years, 
lie said he had always done what he thought 
was right, and if he were to live his life ov- 
er he would do the same thing again. 

Colonel Emerson was a veteran of the 
Mexican war and was in the battle of Palo 
Alto. He was fond of describing the splen- 
did sight of the orderfy advance on that lev- 
el field of the 30,000 Mexican cavalry lan- 
cers. 

When the war came on the consensus of 
opinion was, the Confederacy must and 
shall be sustained. The law firm of Emer- 
son in New Orleans was prominent and it 



— 173 — 

was thought the war would only last 60 
days, it was agreed that he should go into 
the Confederacy and that his partner should 
take care of the law business. After the 
war, Bmerson was poor and had a large fami- 
ly of children. In order to hold the office 
of judge, he was required to make some sort 
of recantation. Judge Emerson came out 
in a card in a newspaper and stated that he 
was sorry for the part he had taken in the 
rebellion. 



CHRISTIAN ROSELIUS — THOS. J. SEMMES. 

In 1 86 1, I was sitting an the upper floor 
of the New Orleans Chy Hall listening to 
the debates of the Secession Convention. 
The question was shall the ordinance of se- 
cession be submitted to the people. Sem- 
mes made a forcible argument against it and 
said: "We, the representatives, are the peo- 
ple, we are the quint essence of the people. n 
In reply, Roselius said: "The gentleman 
says we are the people, we are the quint es- 



— 174 — 

sence of the people! I should like to know 
in what alembic that quint essence has been 
distilled." The ordinance was not submit- 
ted to the people. Soon after that Roselius 
quit the convention and went home for good. 



HON. J. AD. ROSIER, 

a life-long member of the New Orleans bar, 
was a member of the Secession Convention. 
He was a union man and an ardent support- 
er of the Federal government. In vain, he 
tried to avert the storm and resist the decree 
of fate. He said in one of his speeches, "I 
do not belong to the torrid zone, nor to the 
frigid zone, but to the temperate zone." 



^S 



175 



JAMES BEGGS. 

On the 27th of March, 1857, when I had 
partly sown my wild oats, I arrived in New 
Orleans to stay, on the Empire City via 
Havana, having got away from the Filibus- 
ters in Nicaragua on a pass from William 
Walker by Panama. After being admitted to 
the bar, I was sent by my partner, Major 
Henry St. Paul, to Baton Rouge to enter 
10,000 acres of cypress lands. At that time 
there was a conspicuous member in the legis- 
lature from Orleans by the name of Beggs. 
He was rather large, well formed and of a 
reddish complexion. By occupation a print- 
er, with a good education and fine voice Mr. 
Beggs occupied a great deal of the time of 
the house. 

The war came on, Beggs went out of Poli- 
tics and totally disappeared. Years after- 
wards, I had occasion in some busines mat- 
ter to make inquiries about him. I found 
him, and he was the most quiet, unassum- 



— 176 — 

ing, elderly gentleman I ever met. He fol- 
lowed his trade and lived in complete retire- 
ment. 

After tlie federal occupation in 1862, Gen- 
eral Butler ran the St. Charles hotel. The 
old structure had high, Corinthean pillars 
with winding, granite stairways leading up 
to the open rotunda in front. 

At that time the feeling of the Confeder- 
ate population was very bitter against the 
yankees and all their sympathisers. Man}' 
men in New Orleans had been very noisy 
rebels until the Federals arrived. Then, 
they went forward to the surprise of the peo- 
ple, took the oath and joined the yankees. 

One day, an old friend saw Jim Beggs un- 
der the stairs of the St. Charles Hotel busi- 
ly engaged with a note book and pencil. 
He called to him, "Hello, Jim, what are you 
doing?" He answered, U I am putting 
down the names of these fellows in my 
<S ab book." 



177 — 



THE GAMBLER. 



Once in Mexico, I visited my friend Don 
Miguel del Rio y Rio and read over to him 
Mazeppa. He took me to a .wardrobe and 
showed me a pile of $500 in gold. There is 
a village sixteen miles from the city where 
they hold a carnival of Monte every year for 
a week. He said that he had just won that 
gold there; that the games were going on 
then; that he went every year and did the 
same thing; and that he always took a cous- 
in to stop him at the right time or he would 
lose all. I had in my pocket an ounce 
($16) of gold that I had earned as professor 
of English by giving eight lessons of one 
hour a month. I said nothing but secretly 
resolved to try to get $500 too. The next 
stage took me to the village by dark. I sat 
down at a table and put up $4 and won. I 
put up $4 more and won again. Then I 
lost and in less than an hour my ounce of 
gold was gone. I had no money for lodging 



— 178 — 

but slept somewhere. The next morning it 
had rained and walking was bad. But I 
made the trip. When I got home, professor 
Hy polite Copee (we had rooms together) 
laughed at me and said ki Je n* aurais pas 
cru ce la de vous y " A burnt child dreads 
the fire." I never bet again, "you bet." 



THE SAW mill. 

I suppose I must have been about seven- 
teen when my father had occasion to have 
some lumber sawed at an old time saw mill 
on Deer Creek, Livingston county, Ken- 
tucky. The long, upright frame of the 
straight saw allowed the log to pass through 
on the carriage, the top of the frame coming 
down to two or three feet of the top of the 
log. When a large stock had been squared 
and the saw was commencing to cut planks 
on one side, I measured the situation with 
the eye and saw that there was room to take 
a ride on the wide side of the stock by lying 
straight with my arms close, though I would 



— 179 — 

have to meet and pass in a few inches of the 
saw. No sooner resolved than executed. 
When my body had partly passed the saw, 
my father discovered me, but he had pres- 
ence of mind to keep quiet and look on 'til 
I got safely through. He said nothing to 
me but he told my mother about it. The 
remembrance of such things of my father 
makes me honor him more and more as he 
deserved to be. Many times I have been 
near death, but never does my flesh creep 
more than w^hen I think of that trial of the 
nerves, not even when I think of the 
cold steel pointed at my breast and I said 
" strike. " 



^9 



— 180 — 

THE SCIENCES 

To understand the sciences theoretically 
and not practically is not sufficient. Chem- 
istry is a great science, but to have read 
books about chemistry and even to have at- 
tended a course of lectures without practice 
in the laboratory gives very imperfect know- 
ledge. Therefore, I conceived that a situ- 
ation in a drug store for sometime would be 
beneficial to a student. Dr. Franklin for a 
reading man and a self made man must have 
had special talent for chemical investigation 
and the secrets of nature which led up to his 
electrical discoveries. But electricity was 
everyday talk in his time and others long 
before had compared it to lightning. Ba- 
con's experiments were laborious. 

Astronomy is a grand subject. But much 
reading on the subject as now understood 
only gives an unsatisfactory outline of the 
theory, such as is obtained by a glance at a 
large printing press or other great machine. 



— 181 — 

It takes the use of the telescope and other 
practical work to take the universe to pieces, 
a la logique de Condzllac. 

The earth is thought to be the most solid 
of the planets. Jupiter, although hundreds 
of times larger than the earth, appears to be 
of so light a nature that it is doubtful if it 
is inhabited. ■ Mars is of firmer material r 
and though smaller than the earth presents 
conditions favorable for inhabitants. The 
Moon always presents the same side to the 
Earth and probably to the Sun, which must 
make it hot on that side. It has no air. 

But the fixed stars excite our wonder. 
By the way, I never could understand ex- 
actly the example put by Aristotle in his 
logic, "The star is fixed because it twink- 
les, or, it twinkles because it is fixed. n 
Here, again, the want of practice with in- 
struments and practical calculations leaves 
us very much in the dark on a benighted 
subject. We learned at college, geometry 
and trigonometry. We can form a triangle 



— 182 — 

on the Earth, the Moon and the Sun, and 
we can calculate (though not experts) with 
reasonable certainty the length of the side 
from the Earth to the Sun, ninety odd mil- 
lions of miles. 

But when we get out of the Solar System, 
and consider the fixed stars as centres of oth- 
er systems beyond number, we come. indeed 
to infinity. We are lost in a maze of cre- 
ation upon creation utterly beyond the scope 
of our pigmy intellects. 



WONDERS OF CREATION. 

Mathematicians calculate the distances of 
the heavenly bodies by means of the trian- 
gle. The square described on the l^pothe- 
nuze is equal to the sum of the squares de- 
scribed on the other two sides. A triangle 
formed by a point on the surface of the 
earth, its center and the sun, has a respect- 
able short end on account of the comparative 
nearness of the sun. But when such a 
triangle is formed to a fixed star of great 



— 183 — 

distance, the two long sides of the triangle 
are nearly parallel. The end is so short as 
to be almost a point. Then the fnlcrum of 
Archimedes is lacking npon which to place 
his lever to remove the earth and the dist- 
ance becomes as it were infinite. 

The North Star is distant two hundred 
and fifty billions of miles. Therefore, in 
considering ourselves with reference to crea- 
tion, it is evident that each one of us could 
not amount, at most, to more than the one 
ten thousandth part of a gnat. It is said 
that one of the stars in the Dipper, being a 
fixed star, is a sun and many times larger 
than our sun. As to time, there is an in- 
finity ante and an infinity post. There is 
an infinit}^ of extension and an infinity of 
creation. 



THE SUN. 

The center of our system, according to 
astronomers, is an immense body. It is a 
globe and its diameter is 850,000 miles. 



— 184 — 

The substance, itself, is thought to be an 
ever changing fiery mass of electricity and 
combustible matter. How its heat can 
travel so far, 95,000,000 of miles, and heat 
the earth, as it does, may be a subject of 
doubt. Heat, light, electricity and motion 
appear not to be well understood. We know 
that in the top stratum of our atmosphere 
it is very cold. May it not be that by some 
chemical action of the perpendicular rays of 
light striking our atmosphere and earth 
heat is then and there generated, without 
being transmitted the whole way through 
space by the mass of heat directly from the 
sun? 

The Peruvians, according to Prescott, were 
a wonderful race. The Inca was descended 
from the sun. The modern or principal 
god was the sun. The monarch belonged 
to a sacred race and was married to his own 
sister. The other marriages were made 
once a year by wholesale in the public 
square simply by the hand of the bride being 



— 185 — 

placed in that of the bridegroom by the Inca 
or the governor. 

It would seem that the worship of the 
snn was well rewarded. The whole country 
was in a wonderfully perfect state of culti- 
vation, far better than it has ever been 
under the Spaniards. Canals of irrigation 
permeated the whole country. All bridges 
were in order. Government stores were 
found at regular stations. There being no 
iron used in the country, the Spaniards had 
to shoe their horses with silver. 

The sun is about one million and a quar- 
ter times larger than our earth. His 
mass is said to be about 750 times larger 
than all his planets, Mercury, Venus, 
Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, etc. 



THE MOON, 

The moon is a dark body and shines by 

light reflected from the sun. It is distant 

near a quarter of a million of miles. Its 

diameter is a little over 2000 miles. She 



— 186 — 

always shows us the same side. u And he 
said, wherefore wilt thou go to him to- 
day ? It is neither New Moon, nor Sab- 
bath." 



A MEDICAL OPINION. 

A young man, 29 years of age, with fine 
commercial prospects, a loving mother and 
many friends suffered from pains in the ab- 
domen. The surgeons consulted and con- 
cluded that he was afflicted with appen- 
dicitis. X rays were not resorted to or did 
no good. He went voluntarily to the hos- 
pital and was operated upon. They opened 
his side and took out his entrails, but found 
that he had no appendicitis at all. His in- 
testines were ulcerated. They cut out eight 
or ten inches of the part and sewed up the 
ends. Four days after he was dead and 
they made an autopsy and discovered that 
they had made the mistake of not cutting 
from the diseased bowel several inches 
more. In the opinion of the author, he 



— 187 — 

might have been cured by light, long, con- 
tinued purging with castor oil or other 
medicine. Oil is especially soothing, cura- 
tive and molifying in young children. The 
same treatment has often been successful in 
paralysis and might be in cases of supposed 
cancers on full blooded bodies. But the 
trend of modern theory is opposed to 
purging and doubtless it is not good in 
cases of old people and wasted systems. In 
cases like that of the young man and in 
supposed cancers w T here nature is trying to 
throw off disease, and in all cases of inflam- 
ation and imposthumes, starvation should 
be a sovereign remedy. 

But the religious view of life is the best. 
The young man's troubles are over, "que 
locum curae neque g audio ne esse ultra" 
All things are for the best. The beehive is 
a wonderful creation and destruction. The 
bee lives forty days, the queen three or four 
years. She is the goddess. But the male 
courtiers, at times, are most sadly treated. 



— 188 — 

Let us return, however, to the diagnosis of 
the case. Gil Bias, Lesage, or whoever he 
was, had a wholesome fear of doctors. For 
those who like to live, give nature a chance ! 
Beware of the knife ! 



^6 



— 189 



THE PARROT. 



Once, in Mexico, I was sitting before my 
room on the narrow gallery of the second 
story facing the patio (court yard) when I 
heard a disagreeable, ugly barking of a dog 
above, as I thought. Looking up, I discov- 
ered a parrot in his cage at the head of the 
stairs of the story above. One afternoon, 
while reading, I found him by me on the 
bannister. He had come down to make me 
a visit and was very friendly. He got on 
my chair, sat on my shoulder and appeared 
to want to communicate something. Then 
he marched away, with dignity. He never 
did that before, nor afterwards. That night 
there was a terrific earthquake. Two 
Frenchmen jumped out from the next room 
with, " mon Dieu! Que ce quHl y a?" The 
" earth swung blind. " That conduct was 
positive proof to me that birds know when 
the earthquake is coming. 



190 



NIAGARA. 



AN ODK I,ITERAI,I«Y TRANSLATED FROM HKREDIA, 
THE CUBAN BYRON, BY W. W. HANDUN. • 

Tune my lyre, give it me, I feel 
Inspiration in my trembling 
And agitated soul. Oh ! how long 
I slept in darkness, ere thy light 
Illumined my brow ! Wavy Niagara, 
Thy sublime terror alone could 
Restore me the divine gift, which, enraged, 
The impious hand of sorrow tore from me. 

Prodigious torrent, be still, hush 
Thy terrific thunder: dissipate somewhat 
The utter darkness which encircles thee, 
Let me contemplate thy face serene, 
And with ardent enthusiasm fill my soul. 
I am worthy to contemplate thee: ever 
Disdaining the low and the mean, 
I yearned for the terrible and sublime. 
At the loud roar of the furious hurricane, 
At the burst of the thunderbolt before my face, 
Palpitating I rejoiced: I saw the ocean, 
Scourged by the tempestuous south wind, 
Beat upon my bark, and at my feet 
I saw the whirling vortex yawn, and loved the 

danger. 
But the fierceness of the sea 



— 191 — 

Produced not in my soul 

The profound impression which does thy grandeur. 



Serene thou runnest, majestic; and soon 
Broken amid rugged cliffs, 
Violent, headlong thou hurl'st thyself, 
Like destiny, irresistible and blind. 
What human voice can describe 
The roaring Syrtis' 
Frightful front? My soul 
On beholding that fervid stream, 
Which, in vain, the disturbed vision endeavors 
To follow in its flight to the dark brink 
Of the deepest precipice; a thousand waves, 
Passing as rapid as thought, 
Dash, and infuriate themselves, 
And other thousands meet them there, 
And, amid foam and roar, they disappear. 

See! they come, they bound ! the horrible abyss 
Devours the headlong torrents : 
A thousand rainbows cross themselves, and the 

deafen 'd 
Woods return the tremendous sound. 
On the inflexible rocks 
The water rushes: the vaporous cloud, 
With elastic power, 
Fills the abyss in the whirlpool, rises, 
Whirls around and raises 
To the ether a luminous pyramid: 



— 192 — 

■ 

Through the surrounding mountains 
The solitary huntsman is astounded. 

But what does my longing vision seek in thee 
With vain endeavor? why do I not see, 
Around thy immense cavern, 
The palm trees? ah ! the delightful palms, 
Which, in the plains of my burning soil, 
Are born from the smile of the sun, and grow, 
And, at the breath of the ocean's breezes, 
They wave 'neath the purest sky. 

In spite of me this memory comes 

Oh Niagara ! naught is wanting to thy destiny ; 

No crown but the humble pine tree 

To thy terrible majesty is due. 

The palm, the myrtle and the delicate rose, 

Inspire soft pleasure and sweet repose 

In the frivolous garden; for thee dame fortune 

Had a worthier object — sublimity. 

The free, strong, generous soul 

Comes, sees thee, is astounded, 

Despises mean delight, 

And is even elevated when thou art named. 

Omnipotent God ! in other climes 
I saw execrable monsters, 
Blaspheming thy most holy name, 
Sowing error and impious fanaticism, 
Inundating plains with blood and tears, 
Stirring up brothers to impious war, 



— 193 — 

Madly desolating the land. 

I saw them, and at their sight my heart was in- 
flamed 
With grave indignation. On one side 
I saw lying philosophers, who dared 
To scrutenize thy mysteries, to outrage thee, 
And with impiety, to the lamentable abyss 
They dragged the miserable men. 
For this my feeble mind has sought thee 
In sublime solitude. Now it is 
Wholly opened to thee. Thy hand feels 
In the immensity which surrounds me, 
And thy profound voice wounds my soul 
With this great torrent's eternal thunder. 

Wonderful, amazing stream ! 
How thy sight enraptures my mind, 
And fills me with terror and admiration ! 
.Where is thy origin? Who has nourished, 
For so many ages, thy inexhaustible source ? 
What all-powerful hand 
Stays thy awful entrance 
From overwhelming the ocean ? 

The Lord opened His omnipotent hand; 
He covered thy face with trembling clouds, 
Gave his voice to thy precipitous waters, 
And adorned with his bow thy terrible brow. 
Blind, deep, indefatigable thou runnest, 
As the dark torrent of centuries 
In unfathomable eternity ! From man, 



— 194 — 

So fly his pleasing illusions, 

His most flourishing days, 

And he awakes to sorrow ! Alas ! my youth 

Lies parched, my face is withered, 

And the deep grief, which agitates me, 

Wrinkles my brow with clouded sorrow. 

Never, as this day, have I so felt 
My solitude and miserable abandonment, 
M}' lamentable friendlessness Can I, 
In my stormy life, 

Without love be happy ? Oh ! if some fair one 
Should fix my affection, 
And to the turbid border of this abyss, 
My wandering thought 
And ardent admiration accompany, 
How I would rejoice, on seeing her cover herself 
With gentle pallor, and become more beautiful 
In her sweet terror, and smile 
When sustained in my loving arms. 
Virtuous delirium ! Alas ! banished, 
Without love, without a home; 
Tears and sorrows alone, I see before me. 

All powerful Niagara ! 
Adieu ! adieu ! within a few short years 
The cold tomb shall have devoured 
Th}^ feeble singer. May my verses last, 
As thy immortal glory. May some pious 
Traveler, on beholding thee, 
Give one feeble sigh for my poor memory ! 



— 195 — 

And when the fiery Phebus is engulfed in the 

West, 
Happy, may T fly where my Maker calls me, 
And, on listening to the echoes of my fame, 
Raise on the clouds my radiant brow. 



BARBARISM AND THE PRESS. 
(This Item of News is reported). 

"Barrundia, the Guatemalan revolution- 
ist, was captured and shot on board an 
American Steamer passing the port of San 
Jose de Guatemala, while resisting arrest. 
The captain of the vessel had consented to 
his extradition to the officers of Barillas, 
which meant death to him, and he resisted 
arrest." 

It is w r ell known that in the countries 
South of us, they are accustomed to shoot 
their prisoners. In our own country, the 
United States, it is not necessary to un- 
dertake to convince any person that pris- 
oners of war are entitled to the protection 
of their lives. To take the life of a help- 
less, unresisting prisoner is murder. This 



— 196 — 

is so universally admitted in this country, 
that the poorest and most ignorant soldier 
would respect the sanctity of his prison- 
er's life. But for an educated and civil- 
ized officer to shoot a prisoner would ren- 
der him execrable in the sight of his fel- 
low men. 

This principle was so well understood in 
our late civil war between the States, which 
lasted five years, that it is not within our 
memory that ever an officer of the arih}^ of 
the United States of America, or an officer 
of the Southern Confederacy, could be pre- 
vailed upon to shoot his prisoner in cold 
blood. But this principle is recognized by 
the law of nations. In all the great nations 
of Europe and Asia the life of a prisoner of 
war is respected. 

While this is so, and while we boast of 
the advancement of civilization, which we 
assume to have extended to all the world 
except the cannibal islands, right here, 
under our very eyes, this horrid practice of 



— 197 — 

shooting defenceless prisoners of war in cold 
blood is, and lias been carried on in Mexico, 
Central America and a great part of South 
America. It is not in cannibal islands, it 
is not in ignorant and savage nations that 
this is done, but it is in lands where the 
language of Cervantes is spoken and writ- 
ten in all its beauty and splendor. 

Let the American press thunder against 
this inhuman and uncivilized practice of 
murdering prisoners of war in cold blood. 
Let them pray their brother editors of 
Spanish America to publish their edito- 
rials on the subject, and if they are unable 
to translate them into Spanish, we will do 
it for them. Let those same Spanish edi- 
tors translate and publish this article in 
the name of humanity, in the name of 
chivalry. 

A notable case, that of the filibuster 
William Walker. The enemy, the Hon- 
durians, were not able, after considerable 
fighting,* to capture Walker, who was 



— 198 — 

among the bravest of the brave. They 
applied to a British man-of-war lying off 
the coast for assistance. It was useless to 
xesist, and Walker surrended to the British 
captain. This officer delivered his prisoner 
of war to the enemy who had been unable to 
conquer him in a fair field, and Walker was 
taken from on board the British man-of-war 
and carried to land by the Hondurians and 
shot. The jackal followed the lion. 

What became of that British captain? He 
sank into disgrace and infamy. The Brit- 
ish government did not countenance the 
personal treachery of the infamous captain 
of the man-of-war. 

So may all traitors perish! Any man who 
withdraws his protection from his guest — 
from one whom he is bound in honor to 
protect — is abase traitor. 

But what is gained, by this practice of 
shooting prisoners of war on both sides? 
We, ourselves, have seen a brave colonel of 
Guatemala and talked with him in •his own 



— 199 — 

tongue, who was shot tinder the lex talionis 
because Lennes, a prisoner of war, had been 
butchered. He knew his doom, and was 
resigned to die. We were so shocked at 
the horrid practice, however it seemed 
justified in that case, that w r e could not 
witness the execution, though opportunity 
offered. 

Juan Diaz de Corvarrubias, the young 
Mexican poet, with 17 other medical stu- 
dents, were shot, because they dared to go 
out and dress the wounds of the rebels who 
fell in the battle near Tacabaya. 

The writer knew all the martyred pris- 
oners personally, as well as the poet Juan 
Diaz de Corvarrubias. 



W r ILLIAM WALKER. 



There was a period called the Walker 
administration in Nicaragua. William 
Walker and other Americans went to Nica- 
ragua. At that time a civil war was raging 



— 200 — 

between two parties, each contending for the 
exclusive possession of the government. 

Walker and those other Americans 
formed a treaty of alliance with one of the 
parties, and after considerable fighting that 
party was successful, and a single govern- 
ment was established, with Walker as one 
of the ministers. The property of certain 
defeated rebels was seized, confiscated and 
sold. Possibly but few of those deeds or 
claims are in existence now. An Ameri- 
can minister, Wheeler, resided there during 
the Walker government. On account of 
some disagreement, and by a coup (Petat, or 
in some other way, Walker became Presi- 
dent. His government held the State in- 
ternally, but the other four Central Amer- 
ican States formed an alliance, and made 
war against Walker and all Americans, and 
finally expelled them from Nicaragua. 

A question arises whether Americans 
acquiring rights bona fide are entitled to 



— 201 — 

protection, having been expelled by exter- 
nal force. 



New Orleans, Feb. 21, 1879. 
Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, 

Washington, D. C. 

Dear Sir: — Your postal card with refer- 
ence to Nicaragua was duly received. You 
advertised for claims of Americans, and the 
question is whether those arising under the 
administration of President William Wal- 
ker will be entertained. The history was 
about this: Walker and other Americans 
went to Nicaragua. A civil war was ra- 
ging between two parties contending for the 
exclusive possession of the government. 
Those Americans formed a treaty of alli- 
ance with one of the parties, and after con- 
siderable fighting that party was successful 
and a single government was formed, with 
Walker as one of the ministers. The prop- 
erty of certain defeated rebels was seized, 
confiscated, and sold. But few of those 



— 202 — 

deeds or claims are in existence now. An 
American minister, Wheeler, resided in 
Nicaragua at the time. On account of some 
disagreement, or by a coup de^tat, or some 
other way, Walker became President, the 
resident American minister recognizing 
him. His government was able internally 
to hold the State, but the other four Cen- 
tral American States formed an alliance, 
made war against all Americans, and finally 
expelled them from the country. It does 
not seem an unreasonable proposition to me 
that Americans acquiring rights bona fide 
under those circumstances should be indem- 
nified for their losses, when those rights 
have been lost by external force. 

I am, Sir, Your Obedient Servant, 

W. W. Handlin. 



$s 



— 203 — 
THE SCIENCES AND THE BIBLE. 

Our account of the creation shows that 
the Earth is the oldest and entitled to the 
greatest dignity, and that all the rest is. 
subservient to it. Its density and specific 
gravity are the greatest. The dry land 
was divided from the waters. After the ma- 
terial creation, the greater and the less 
lights, and also the stars, were set in the 
firmament. Science proves the same thing, 
to- wit: that outside of the earth, in the 
solar system, all else was created subse- 
quently to the earth. By astronomy, we 
learn that the other planets are much less 
solid than the earth, and nnable, doubtless,, 
to support animal life. 

Mars, the most solid after the Earth, is 
thought to be inhabited; but Jupiter, two or 
more hundred times larger in size, is in sub- 
stance light. 

Geology teaches us by the strata of the 
earth, and the fossil remains of monstrous 



— ' 204 — 

and unknown animals found therein, that 
the Earth is so old that its age is mere guess 
work. Therefore, the existence and union 
of souls with bodies on Earth is more likely 
than in any other point in the universe. 



CHRIST. 

Whether Christ be God or not, may well 
be doubted by man. But that His doctrine 
of love and goodness is immortal, admits of 
no doubt whatever. His doctrine will 
doubtless overspread the earth. Already 
the Christian nations are sizing up and pre- 
paring to divide pagan China and Africa. 
The shame and scandal of Christians are 
the hatreds and divisions of the Christians 
against each other. 

The burnings at the stake afford pitiful 
examples of the weakness of poor human 

nature. But this it is conceived affords no 

- 

objection to the teachings of the Master. It 
was the work of the devil. 

The polemic genius of Ingersoll, it is said, 



— 205 — 

did great harm, but it was because he was 
unable to suggest anything better than the 
Church founded by Christ on the rock. The 
poetic and mystic Koran cannot be compared 
to the teachings of Christ. Christ taught 
monogamy, — Mahomet established polyga- 
my. Since the foundation of the world 
there has never been anything equal to the 
divine teachings of love and goodness b}^ 
the Savior. Of course his testament is not 
responsible for the religious wars and the 
burnings at the stake. They were the work 
of the devil. The devil works on man prin- 
cipally in dreams. And yet again it would 
seem that the different sedls of Christians 
of the present day are salutary checks upon 
each other, and their mutual criticisms pre- 
vent abuses. But the consensus of Chris- 
tian opinion has brought about the pres- 
ent humane and civilized practices, both 
in war and in peace. Divine creations 
have been recognized since the beginning of 
the world. The speech of Cicero against 



— 206 — 

Mark Antony was called divine by the peo- . 
pie. The period of the early Christians was 
strange and peculiar. Were they insane? 
"Paul, thou art beside thyself !" History 
admits that God has visited his creatures, or 
that at certain times there have been Divine 
visitations on earth. 

A good witness as to Christ's divinity is 
the "Immortal Daniel." (Webster.) The 
inscription on his tomb at Marshfield, Mass., 
as seen and remembered, states that in his 
youth he was inclined to infidelity, but that 
in later years, when he reflected on the Ser- 
mon on the Mount, he was constrained to 
believe that it could only have emanated 
from God. The most that infidels can say 
is: "We do not know. Christ may be God; 
it is not impossible." But that His divine 
creation will continue to be immortal, can 
hardly be questioned. 



— 207 — 
A PRAYKR. 

O God ! May it please Thee to look with 
compassion upon our weaknesses, and to 
forgive our sins. I pray for all the living 
and the dead. Divine Father, may it please 
Thee to remember the good that I have 
done, and to forget the evil. Lord, have 
mercy upon us ; we submit to thy will. 
Amen ! 



fr* 



— 208 — 
H POLITICAL LETTER. 

New Orleans, June i, 1874. 
To the Editor of the Picayune : 

Dear Sir — Considering that it is the 
duty of all who have an interest in the wel- 
fare of our State and intend to stay here, as 
I do, to offer any suggestions which may 
occur to them, I avail myself of that liberty. 

For the next election the most natural 
division of parties in Louisiana is into 
white and black. Democratic party, Re- 
publican party, are terms inapplicable to 
this State, and the two parties should be 
divided, not from prejudice or passion, but 
from the nature of the population, as it 
exists. Any other division adds strength 
to the African race and enables it to pre- 
dominate. Divide and conquer, say they ; 
and so far they have succeeded. 

The white party is* a broad banner under 
whose folds all conflicting opinions may be 
rallied. We whites here, as in Virginia, 



— 209 — 

should accept as a lesson the unity and dis- 
cipline of the colored race, by which in this 
State, with Federal intervention, they have 
obtained full control. From the present 
great numbers and the arrogance of the 
negroes, all the white races, French, Irish, 
Germans, Spaniards, Italians, Cubans, 
Jews, Chinese and Americans, are naturally 
and irreconcilably their political enemies. 
Either the negroes must control here or the 
white races. If the former, let us not be 
convinced of the fact without doing all that 
can be done to prevent it, and then it will 
be time enough to retire and submit to ex- 
cessive taxation without representation 
either of the wealth or talent of the State. 

Care should be taken in all the parishes 
to select a pure white conservative ticket, 
of the most meritorious, wealthy or talented 
men, and it might be that even some col- 
ored men would vote for such a ticket, with 
the assurance that afterwards they would be 
considered as friends and not as enemies. 



— 210 — 

In this way, although, there would necessa- 
rily be a large colored representation, it is 
likely the whites, who own nearly all the 
property, would have a controlling majority 
in the Legislature, which would be best — 
even for the negro laborers, who cannot 
prosper unless the substantial interests of 
the State are protected by wise and incor- 
ruptible legislators. 

United opposition by the whites is justi- 
fied, not on the ground of hatred to the ne- 
groes, but because they are unfit. There 
are but few pure blacks who are capable of 
or who even aspire to be candidates, while 
heretofore their notorious and unscrupulous 
leaders could always be bought for a trifle. 
Reformers and unifiers have failed. Vain 
efforts! No confidence attaches to either 
side from such unnatural combinations. 
There is no way to put down negro domina- 
tion except by a bold stand. A united front 
of all the white races will be respected, and 
their opponents will abandon their unjust 



— 211 - 

pretention, — not to participate, but to gov- 
ern. And should it continue, the whites 
will be justified in non-intercourse, as far 
as possible, and in preferring those of their 
own race in all the dealings of private life; 
and the end will show who are to rule. 

Although physical violence, which has 
done so much harm, should be constantly 
deprecated, no quarter, politically, should 
be granted. And since the most unscrupu- 
lous means have been used to blight the 
fair hopes of our people, by elevating an ig- 
norant class to power, every lawful means of 
peaceable retaliation should be resorted to 
in order to defeat the enemies of public wel- 
fare. The exorbitant and unjust taxes here- 
tofore imposed, many persons are unwilling 
or unable ever to pay; but with representa- 
tion and economy in the future, the property 
holders would doubtless cheerfully pay ev- 
ery dollar of a low rate of taxation. 

Let a constitutional convention be called, 
mainly to regulate suffrage, and consider 



— 212 — 

first the clause found in the constitution of 
Massachusetts, which is as follows: " Ev- 
ery member of the House of Representatives 
shall be chosen by written votes." Paupers 
and persons under guardianship cannot 
vote. 

It is likely that most persons now believe 
that we have had enough of negro rule, and 
though they may not sympathize with the 
Southern Democrats, they would doubtless 
prefer a government even of the old stock 
of Southern gentlemen. 

We, who were considered Republicans, 
and yet voted for John McEnery, did so not 
because he was a Democrat, or a friend of 
Warmouth, but because we were tired of 
strangers, — those pseudo Republicans who 
are altogether unlike the honest Republi- 
can masses at the North. Their principal 
object is unblushing plunder and intrusion, 
and being supported by Federal power, 
they have fastened themselves upon Louisi- 
ana like parasites and mistletoes, but the 



— 213 — 

people long to be governed by their own 
friends and neighbors, with whom they 
have sympathy and confidence. 

Near three hnndred years ago it was said, 
as it were for Louisiana, to express the pres- 
ent condition of her people, that "the causes 
and motives of seditions are innovations in 
religion, taxes, alteration of laws and cus- 
toms, breaking of privileges, general op- 
pression, advancement of unworthy persons, 
strangers, dearths, disbanded soldiers, fac- 
tions grown desperate. n 

Our Utopians demand that all the good 
and worthy people of both races shall join 
together on one side, and make war on all 
the dishonest people on the other side. 
This would be very desirable, but in prac- 
tice it becomes impossible, as some of each 
kind will always be found on both sides. 
Then, it is fair to assume that the whites, 
as a class, possess more intelligence, mor- 
ality and -worth than the negroes, and if 
they can succeed in the election, more of 



— 214 — 

these qualities will be found in the admin- 
istration of public affairs. 

A timid and conciliatory course has been 
pursued by the whites, which has caused a 
division among themselves, and brought 
strength and union to the African element. 
This has been chiefly the result of undue in- 
fluence and interference by the United States 
government, but it is probable that this 
power will become more impartial in the 
near future, and it is hardly possible that 
the enlightened North can long assist in the 
degradation and oppression of the white 
races at the South, solely for the prema- 
ture and unnatural aggrandizement of the 
blacks. 

This could only be continued as a punish- 
ment for the past, but the past in the 
South was the result of circumstances over 
which our present white population have 
had but little control. It is obvious now 
that a plain issue should be made,. * and if 
no relief can be had by open and energetic 



— 215 — 

warfare, politically, so that the prosperity 
of the State can be advanced, it cannot 
come otherwise, and the responsibility will 
be shifted. 

Submitting my right to offer my views, 
as editors and other citizens do, I remain, 
Yours very respectfully, 

W. W. Handlin. 



HANDLIN DIFFERS WITH MR. FOWLER IN 
AN OPEN LETTER. 

New Orleans, La., Jan. 13, 1898. 
Hon. Charles N. Fowler, 

Dear Sir: — Some weeks since I received 
a communication that you would send me 
your speech if I wished. I replied that I 
would read it if sent. I have to thank you 
for a copy, which I have read pretty care- 
fully. I judge you are the lawyer for some 
bank or banks. Portions of your speech 
throw a great deal of light on the financial 
question. But your notion that the gov- 



— 216 — 

ernment ought to step down and out, and 
put the money power entirely under the 
control of the banks, — leaving the people 
at their mercy to speculate, expand and con- 
tract at will, — seems to me altogether 
wrong. 

Why it is not possible for the govern- 
ment to issue all the circulating medium, 
and regulate it per capita, leaving the banks 
to do a strictly banking business, lending, 
discounting, etc., I cannot understand. 

The vexed question of a single measure 
of values is well handled by you. But why 
not demonetize both gold and silver? Since 
the discussion of 1877 I have been a firm 
believer in greenbacks. In 1893, when I 
traveled, by the advice of a Spaniard who 
had lately been in Europe, I took gold. 
But when I got to Rome my banker in- 
formed me that greenbacks were worth just 
a little more than gold. 

The Populists are right on all these 
questions. Just melt the precious metals 



— 217 — 

into bars and put them in the vaults of the 
Treasury, leaving government paper for 
money exclusively, except base coin for 
small amounts. 

Your book [page 92] showing the diffi- 
culty and vexation of a double metal stan- 
dard, is conclusive proof that a stamp pa- 
per standard is the best. Bars of met- 
al are as good a foundation as coin, if any 
other nation or individual wants the bars. 

The warehouse business is a good busi- 
ness. Croesus was a warehouseman. But 
the argument of iron being better than gold 
can hardly avail in our day. In 1862 gold 
slunk away. If the banks held it they 
failed to furnish it to the government. 

The President's idea to issue no green- 
backs except for gold is good. Since 1893 
I have been a convert to his high tariff 
policy, however much the contrary may be 
good for Great Britain. Why not have a 
purely American system, both of currency 
and of tariff? 



t — 218 — 

Your plan would put all the money in the 
bank, and the citizen could never put in 
enough, — like Mark Twain's jaybird, who 
said, "I reckon I've struck something." 
Your Obedient Servant, 

W. W. Handijn. 



New Orleans, La., May 19, 1900. 
Gen. Adolph Meyer, 

My Dear Friend: — I have very careful- 
ly read * your late speech, and I think you 
are mistaken. I differ with you altogeth- 
er. We paid our money, $20,000,000, and 
have a perfect title to the Philippine Is- 
lands, — the same as we have for Alaska, for 
which we paid $7,000,000. It would be the 
same thing if the aboriginal inhabitants 
were to rise up and defy the authority of the 
United States. 

The President, therefore, is perfectly 
right in maintaining the war to keep the 
peace in all our possessions. In fact, by 



— 219 — 

your admission, he has been a model Presi- 
dent. He did all he could to prevent the 
war with our friends, {con mestros amigos, 
los Espanoles) the Spaniards. 

The President, surrounded by his cabinet 
of statesmen, and with the aid of the press, 
giving the sense of the country at large, 
was as competent to keep the peace as Con- 
gress would have been. 

Some admissions in the speech seem fatal 
to the conclusions. "Louisiana, a vast 
domain sold to us by France." The ill 
will, not to say hatred, of the old French 
inhabitants against American rule, is too 
well known. The ladies thought it a dis- 
grace to speak English. Within our mem- 
ory the prejudice still existed, as no one 
knows, my dear General, better than you, 
who speak so well la belle langne Francaise. 
It is all changed now. Our young people 
do not like French, and those of the mother 
tongue strive to speak English. 

There is nothing in a name. The United 



- 220 — 

States, to all intents and purposes, is an 
empire. What need have we for a vast na- 
vy, unless we intend to open a field to en- 
terprising Americans and extend our bless- 
ings to the rest of mankind? The situation 
has changed since the days of Washington. 
To abandon the Philippine Islands now 
would be a retrograde movement in the on- 
ward march of the world. The civilized na- 
tions are in accord, and Africa is peaceably 
partitioned, barring the Boer war. Great 
Britain will run a railroad from the Cape 
of Good Hope to Egypt. 

When the republic of Rome began to 
weaken, Caesar turned back the barbarian 
hordes for a time, annexing Gaul and Spain 
and extending their exceptional civilization 
as far as Britain, the evidence of which 
comes down to us in the beautiful Latin 
tongues. 

A greater power than that of any one na- 
tion is pressing forward the civilization, 
and, perchance, the Christianization of this 



— 221 — 

age; and the time will most probably come 

soon when they will be extended to all the 

cannibal islands, and when by the power of 

steam, electricity, and artesian wells, the 

great Sahara desert will become one vast 

oasis. Truly, 

W. W. Handlin. 



A BILL 

To Prevent Lynching, and to Protect Per- 
sons of African Descent in Their 
Lives and Civil Rights : 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of 
Representatives of the United States of 
America in Congress assembled, 

That whenever a person of African de- 
scent shall be killed by a mob, or by other 
unlawful and overpowering force, the coun- 
ty, parish, district, or municipality in which 
such killing shall take place, shall be lia- 
ble to pay one thousand dollars to the wife, 
parents, child, or friend of the deceased, 
suit for which may be instituted in the Uni- 



— 222 — 

ted States District Court having jurisdic- 
tion over such locality. 

Be it further enacted, That this law shall 
take effect from and after its passage. 



New Orleans, La., July 23, 1901. 
William McKinlEy, President, 

Dear Sir: — In view of the helpless con- 
dition of the negro race, who are deprived 
of the shield of the law, and the presump- 
tion of innocence, permit me to suggest that 
the enclosed bill be offered in the next Con- 
gress, by Senator Foraker or some other 
member. Ojala que valga! 

Yours truly, 

W. W. Handun. 



executive mansion, 
Washington, D. C, July 26, 1901. 
Mr. W. W. Handlin, 

New Orleans, La. 
My Dear Sir: — I beg to acknowledge 
the receipt of your letter of the 23rd inst., 



— 223 — 

with enclosure, and to say that the contents 
have been noted. 

Very truly yours, 
O. L. Pruden, 
Assistant Secretary to the President. 



^6 



224 



Good Advice. — Magister Dixit. 
If a man u be not apt to beat over matters 
and to call upon one thing to prove and il- 
lustrate another, let him study the lawyer's 



THE OPEN COURT. 

Picayune May 19th, 1901. 
MR. HANDLIN IN THE JACKSON TRIAL. 

New Orleans, La., May 18, 1901. 

Editor Picayune: — I take exception to 
this sentence in your editorial, to- wit: "Mr. 
Handlin, who acknowledges himself a fa- 
natical friend of the negroes," etc. 

I do not acknowledge myself so. I know 
of no facts in my history which prove this 
allegation. Indeed, tKe record is the other 
way, as you may see in the Case 12, Wal- 
lace, page 173. My partiality naturally is 
for my own, the white race. I am not par- 
ticularly the negro's friend, unless he is a 
good negro. But I make no difference in 



— 225 — 

races or men, or other animals, where jus- 
tice is concerned. 

Being a Southern man, I know all about 
the negro. But when appointed by the 
Court to defend the negroes, I meant to do 
it. If they had been white I would have 
done the same. Your newspaper did not so' 
style Mr. Maher, who defended Jim Mur- 
ray, alias Greasy Jim. 

I beg of you to do me justice and with- 
draw the above language. Please publish 
this. Yours, etc., 

W. W. Handlin. 

Note. — [The Picayune derived its opinion of 
Mr. Handlings prejudice in favor of the negroes 
from the radical sectional political expressions 
which characterized his arguments and the con- 
duct of his case. But an opinion must yield to 
his disclaimer, which is duly accepted and given 
to the public above. The Picayune gave Mr. 
Handlin credit for the management of the cause 
in which he was engaged, and had no idea of re- 
flecting on him for performing the duties to which 
he had been delegated. The Picayune has ap- 
plauded Judge Maher and other lawyers who have 
ably defended negroes, but they did not find it nec- 
essary to inject violent sectional politics into cases 
where nothing of the sort was warranted. Mr. 



— 226 — 

Handlin was defending negroes charged with the 
murder of policemen under conditions where no 
political issues were involved, and any introduc- 
tion of political questions should have had no 
place in the case.] 



SECTION A. 

May it please the Court, — crooked ways 
are bad ways. In all the cases which were 
dismissed on technicalities by the United 
States Supreme Court, the case of Jim Mur- 
ry, alias Greasy Jim , the Williams case 
from Mississippi, and Neal vs. Delaware, 
103 U. S., they were all judicial murders. 
They were negroes, and entitled to mixed 
juries. The Supreme Court lent itself to 
Southern race prejudice so far as to say, 
"We dismiss the cases because they are not 
properly brought up. We have nothing to 
do with it. The responsibility is on you." 
But in Carter vs. Texas, 177 U. S., the 
Court has said in no mistaken words, "You 
shall give the negro a legal trial." Texas 
is a big State, but Uncle Sam's arm has 



— 227 — 

reached it, and it will reach Louisiana and 
all the South. 

Sir, do you believe the 13th and 14th 
amendments will ever be repealed? Nev- 
er! They will perpetuate the three a's of 
the immortal French revolution: liberie, 
fratemite, egalitL 

All through the South, the judiciary and 
the prosecuting lawyers have been so un- 
manly, if not criminal, as to undertake to 
evade the jury laws of the United States, 
which they undertook to enforce by their 
official, oaths. Lynching is infinitely more 
manly than murder by the forms of law. 
Have I lived to see an infamous Court re- 
fuse to hear witnesses, and then try to ex- 
cuse his wicked decision by saying there 
was no evidence? Is it not about time to 
submit to the inevitable and to submit to the 
supreme jury law of the land? 

It is thirty-six years since the war is over 
and we find the South in full rebellion in its 
resistance to law. It is similar to the guer- 



— 228 — 

rilla warfare of the Boers. But just as sure- 
ly as they will be put down by Great Brit- 
ain, so surely will the South have to sub- 
mit. Why not follow the example of the 
Government in the respectable mixed juries 
here in its courts? 

I submit that the indictments against the 
negroes I defend out of charity, found by a 
grand jury of exclusive white men in this 
city, where a third of the people are negroes, 
ought to be quashed. 

"JUDGE BAKER DENIES HAND- 
LIN'S CONTENTIONS."— Times-Dem- 
ocrat. 

Bill reserved. 



THE STATE VS. SILAS JACKSON, ET AL. 

The challenge and motion to quash the 
indictment will have to be re-submitted in 
this case. I was anxious at first to press 
the trial, bnt Judge Mo'ise said to me, "You 
had better not be in a hurry; maybe there 
was some race prejudice." After that I 



— 229 — 

waited, but the matter was still under ad- 
visement at the judge's death. 

There is really no case against the ac- 
cused. They were all arrested because 
they happened to live in the large tene- 
ment house where Robert Charles was, 
found in one of the rooms. That there are: 
some 80,000 colored people in New Orleans 
your honor will take judicial notice of. 
Greenleaf on Evidence, 4, 5 and 6. 

The colored desperado, Robert Charles^ 
having killed two policemen, was found! 
in a tenement building and killed r 
after having killed two more police- 
men and a citizen . Ten of the in - 
mates, men and women, were indicted for 
murder, and the juries were objected to be- 
cause they were all white. 

The Louisiana Constitution, 9, guaran- 
tees a trial by an impartial jury. The act 
170 of 1894 requires the same kind of a tri- 
al. The case Ex. Virginia 100 U. S., 339^ 
shows that colored people cannot be exclu- 



— 230 — 

ded from the jury. The evidence shows 
that the grand and petit juries were com- 
posed entirely of white men, and therefore 
illegal. 

I think it a matter of conscience to set up 
this defense in case the prisoners should be 
found guilty, so that they might have some- 
thing to stand on by appeal and writ of 
error. Now, gentlemen, there is great ani- 
mosity and race prejudice in this city. And 
there is a population of near 100,000 col- 
ored citizens here. There are 10,000 col- 
ored voters, under the constitution of 1879, 
native American negro citizens. What are 
we going to do about it? We cannot kill 
them all, as the mob would have done. 
Are we to go by prejudice, or are we to 
follow the law? Clearly, we are to be gov- 
erned by the law. Now the constitution and 
the law say, The accused shall have an 
impartial jury; not a jury belonging to 
any class; not a jury belonging to any so- 
ciety of the 400; not a lity white jury; 



— 231 — 

but an impartial jury. That is what the 
law says. 

Jury duty is not remunerative. Most 
business men consider it a great burden. 
There are thousands of wealthy, intelli- 
gent, and educated colored men in New 
Orleans. Is there any reason why they 
should not bear their portion of this pub- 
lic duty and burden, and so relieve white 
citizens to that extent? The jury is the 
reflex of the registration of voters. It is 
to be taken from the whole people, — poor as 
well as rich, educated as well as ignorant, 
colored as well as white. Crime is most 
prevalent among the poor and ignorant. 

It is an undue advantage to the State to 
exclude jurors of their own class. A com- 
mon, uneducated man may take a very differ- 
ent view of a case from an educated man; yet, 
he is a good juror, says the law, and he 
may be more favorable to the prisoner. It 
might be better to have a few ignorant 
colored men on this jury, where these poor 



— 232 — 

people are being tried for their lives. 

And who is responsible for this state of 
things in the administration of criminal 
justice, — excluding a class of voters from 
the jury? It is not the constitution; it 
is not the law of 1894; because they say 
that all the people shall be entitled to an 
impartial jury. The fault lies at the door 
of the jury commissioners. Who author- 
ized them to impose jury duty on one 
class of voters, and to exclude a whole 
class of other voters? Neither the law nor 
their oath gave them any such authority, 
but their duty enjoined upon them the 
contrary. By this illegal and exclusive 
exercise of their office they have engen- 
dered and exalted race prejudice and ill 
blood in the community. 

The practice in the United States Court 
at the Customhouse is ^different. The of- 
ficers there respect the law. When I w r as 
there last and tried a case, a few colored 
citizens and voters were on the jury. Why 



— 233 — 

this anomaly of a different and an illegal 
practice in the State Court in the same 
community ? 

It will be a sorry day when the com- 
mon people are excluded from the jury 
box. That splendid statesman and mag- 
nificent orator, W. J. Bryan, has said 
over and over again, that the common, 
people are the u pillar of the State." The 
jury is a democratic institution. When- 
ever the institution of the jury is turned 
into a class concern, or an institution of 
the aristocracy, it will be an engine of 
tyranny and oppression. The panegyric 
of Sir William Blackstone that the jury 
is the palladium of liberty , will be no 
longer applicable. 

During the unfortunate period of recon- 
struction, negro juries were very objection- 
able. The cause of that was the large ne- 
gro registration. Now it is different. It 
has adjusted itself. There is a large reg- 
istration of white voters. But the jury in 



— 234 — 

the United States Court is still composed 
in part of colored jurors. 

When a rich man enters the court room 
he must lay aside his pride. It is a sa- 
cred place. It is the temple of justige. He 
should be filled with the spirit of Christian 
humility, and respect the rights of the 
humblest human being within the juris- 
diction of the Court. He should remember 
the Golden Rule, to do unto others as he 
would be done by. In matters of life and 
death all men are equal. 

I ask the Court to quash the indictment. 

MOTION OVERRULED. 

Bill reserved. 



^S 



235 



ROBERT CHARLE3. 

DEFENSE OF THE JACKSONS. 

Gentlemen of the Jury: — Silas, Martha > 
and Charles Jackson are charged, with sev- 
en other negroes, in one indictment with 
the murder of JohnLally. I was appointed 
by the judge to defend them. Somehow or* 
other, I have a habit of getting on the wrong 
side. It may be that I am inclined to the 
side of the weak against the strong; or it 
may be because I do not look at things 
like other people. When I form an esti- 
mate of a man, I do not look at his race 
or his nationality, if he is a reliable man 
and a man of principle. 

I am only half an American at best. In 
the late war with Spain, I did not believe 
that one American could conquer six Span- 
iards, and at San Juan Hill the Span- 
iards showed that they could fight. In our 
civil war, they said that one Southern man 



— 236 — 

could whip five yankees, but the five yan- 
kees tired out the one Southern man and 
put him under the negro. 

I have made twenty or thirty sea voy- 
ages, and I consider myself an old sailor. I 
lave been in Berlin, Vienna, (they call it 
Veen) Naples, Paris, London. Now, this 
may be why I get on the wrong side. I 
have had great admiration for heroes, — 
Rob Roy, Roderick Dhu, and others. The 
Cid was a hero of the brain. Amadis de 
Gaul was a hero of the brain. 

My old friend, Major Wharton, at one 
time editor of the Picayune, published a 
small paper and I sometimes furnished him 
with articles. I had been informed of some 
treachery by Americans against a chief, and 
1 wrote an artitle laudatory of Sitting Bull 
for his victory over Custer. I handed in 
my article, but the Major said, u Oh, no; I 
cannot put anything of that sort in my pa- 
per. I believe in going for the Indians." 

Now, gentlemen of the jury, I will call 



— 237 — 

your attention to Robert Charles, who did 
kill Lally, — though the State carefully 
avoided proving that he was there, and it 
was left for me to show the fact, and that 
he was surrounded, besieged, and slain 
along with his enemies, and the house 
burnt down over his head. 

Do you consider Robert Charles a hero? 
He lived and died a free man. The man- 
acles were never placed upon his wrists. 
He died, like Cataline, fighting for sweet 
liberty. He was a brave man. 

Let us imagine that Robert Charles is 
alive, and that I am defending him before 
you for this murder. At most he could 
only be convidled of manslaughter. Why? 
Because the killing was done in hot blood 
in a riot. 

In the riots in Philadelphia between the 
Irish in 1844, which I remember, it was 
held that those homicides only amounted 
to manslaughter. 

In the case of Robert Charles we must 



— 238 — 

look at it from his standpoint. He thought 
that he was defending his life, his home, 
and his liberty against wrong, oppression, 
and persecution. Like Samson, he said, 
u Let me die with the Philistines." If 
Charles had been a white man, the hood- 
lums of New Orleans would have deified 
him to the skies. 

Let us come now to these negroes, who 
are here on trial for the murder of John 
Lally, who was slain in that riot by Rob- 
ert Charles. No case is made out against 
the prisoners. It is evident that they have 
been kept in jail nearly a year to satisfy the 
longing for revenge against the negroes. 
There is cause for race prejudice. Those 
riots were fearful. In the beginning, Rob- 
ert Charles and another negro were sitting 
on a step at night. They were approached 
by the police' and ordered to move on. Words 
were exchanged, and shooting followed. I 
blame neither the police nor the negroes. 
Perhaps with prudence and good manage- 



— 239 — 

ment the riots might have been avoided. 
Four officers and several white men were 
laid low, and widows and orphans were 
made. I see the widow of poor Lally, with 
her orphan children and her weeds, in this 
court room. 

But what under heaven, gentlemen of the 
jury, has all this to do with the case before 
you. Could these defendants stop the ri- 
ots, or are they responsible? 

Qais Epammondam mustcam docuit? 
The attorneys for the State are playing up- 
on a harp of a thousand strings. They say 
Silas was present at the shooting of Lally 
and Porteous. But he was unarmed, and 
was actually in charge of those two officers 
when they were shot down by Charles from 
his closet. Silas was the only witness to 
that shooting, and you must take his evi- 
dence that it was not done by him, but by 
another. 

Again, the State urges that Silas had a 
rifle. It is the privilege of every Ameri- 



— 240 — 

can to bear arms and military accoutre- 
ments. But his gun was loaded when 
found. Then, they say that Silas' actions 
were suspicious, and they want to convict 
him on suspicions. Lord Bacon says, 
" Suspicions among thoughts are like bats 
among birds, — they ever fly by twilight.'' 

My father used to relate a fable of Dr. 
Franklin: u An eagle was sailing in the 
blue ether. He made a swoop on what he 
supposed to be a young rabbit, which he 
seized, and flew away. Pretty soon, he dis- 
covered that it was a young cat, which was 
tearing his vitals, and he wished to let it 
drop; but the cat held on, and forced him 
to return it whence it was taken." 

So, with Robert Charles. The police 
supposed he was a rabbit, but they found 
him to be a lion, fearless of death. 

Since the war, the negroes have been in- 
vested with civil rights. Do you believe the 
fourteenth amendment will ever be re- 
scinded? Never ! The three a's of the 



— 241 — 

French revolution have come to stay, towit: 
eg a lite , fra tern ite , liberte ! 

The negroes are not such a bad people. 
There are thieves among them, but there 
are many good negroes who are industrious 
and sober. You seldom see a negro drunk, 
and it is notorious that Americans are the 
greatest drunkards in the world. 

Our hoodlums may take lessons from the 
negro. Indeed, they may learn from the 
brutes. The horse does not get drunk. He 
is too much of a gentleman. The dog does 
not get drunk. I have heard of a parrot 
getting drunk, but I never saw it. Look at 
the nasty, stinking, dirty, drunken, drink- 
shops all over this city,— at every corner 
grocery ! They need Mrs. Carrie Nation 
down here to clear them out, and pitch them 
into the Mississippi River, dilute them with 
water, and send them to the gulf of destruc- 
tion, where they belong. 

Since the abuses of reconstruction, the 
negro has quit politics, and gone to making 



— 242 — 

money by his labor. Give him a fair chance. 
Perhaps you do not know of the causes that 
led to negro domination. I will tell you. 

After the assassination of Lincoln, the 
good, Andrew Johnson became President. 
The Confederates returned in force to this 
city, Monroe was elected mayor, the re- 
turned Confederate soldiers were put on the 
police force, the embryo governments — city 
and State, set up by the United States — 
were not respected, and I saw a charge by 
that police, with their revolvers, across Ca- 
nal street, into the Mechanic's Institute, — 
now Tulane Hall, — where they massacred 
seventy-five negroes. 

Thaddeus Stevens, in Congress, moved 
the previous question until every recon- 
struction law was passed. There was some 
cause and some provocation for reconstruc- 
tion laws. 

The constitution makes you the judges of 
the law as well as the facts. I remember 
once reading Fenelon's Telemachus, trans- 



— 243 — 

lated into Spanish, and I came across this 
sentence: Por bueno y sabio que un rey sea, 
aun es hombre. However good and wise a 
king may be, still he is a man. So with 
the judge ; and in case he should err in his 
charge, you are the judges. I apprehend 
no danger of this, and I need not to have 
mentioned it, because I think 3^011 will agree 
with the judge as to the law. 

Gentlemen of the jury, the State has not 
proved the prisoners guilty. I ask you, as 
white men, to divest yourselves of all pre- 
judice, to grant a general jail delivery, 
and to acquit them. 

NOT GUILTY. 



^S 



— 244 — 
UNJUST REMOVAL. 

In 1864, when the war was not flagrant 
(12 Wall., 173) in New Orleans, and when 
order and civil government had been estab- 
lished for two years, — as shown by the 
case of the Planters' 'Bank in 16 Wallace, 
494, — the removal of Judge Handlin, by 
military order from the bench of the Third 
District Court, was most unjust. 

The civil code which he was sworn to 
support was not abrogated. A slave had 
no standing in Court; the Judge was pow- 
erless, and all he could do was to dismiss 
the case, — the reasons given by him being 
unanswerable. But the manner of the re- 
moval was even more outrageous and rep- 
rehensible. Not a shadow of investigation 
was had, and no notice was given; but 
when the Judge arose next morning, he 
read the order of removal in the newspa- 
pers. Truly, strange things were done in 
those excitable times. — [Press. 



— 245 — 

SALARY CASE. 

A CLAIM. 

New Orleans, La., Feb 27, 1899. 

To the Honorable, the Chairman of the 
Committee of the Senate on Claims. 

Sir: — In years past, a bill for nty re- 
lief by the payment of $20,000, was intro- 
duced every Congress, and the committee 
invariably made the same stereotyped re- 
port, relying on 12 Wallace 173, a case 
which is objected to, — first, because an er- 
roneous premise was assumed to show that 
the military order was valid or necessary in 
New Orleans in 1864 in a civil case, be- 
cause the "war was yet flagrant ; n and, sec- 
ondly, because that case, though res judi- 
cata as to Louisiana, is not res judicata 
between me and the United States. 

I became so dissatisfied, — not to use a 
stronger word, — with the unsatisfactory re- 
ports, that I desisted from further efforts, 



— 246 — 

hoping that as we recede from the period 
of the civil war, and as prejudice, in a mat- 
ter in which the institution of slavery was 
directly involved, becomes less and less po- 
tent, there might be a disposition on the 
part of Congressmen to do justice fairly and 
completely by relying on other and more 
satisfactory citations of authorities besides 
the case in 12 Wallace 173, which I will 
endeavor to show, furnishes, as far as it 
goes, on its face, strong facts and reasons 
in favor of my claim. It occurred to me, 
therefore, if Senator McEnery would ac- 
cept, and should be authorized during va- 
cation to examine, review, and report up- 
on the whole case, as arbitrator on my 
part, that it would be preferable to the 
expense of a new bill. Should he de- 
cline, then I will ask you to do me 
that favor in so far as to advise me 
whether or not to have a bill intro- 
duced regularly at the next session. 
Senator McEnery is a Louisiana judge, 



— 247 — 

and should his decision be adverse, af- 
ter going over all the ground, it would 
doubtless bring conviction that the claim 
ought not to be allowed. But, should 
he refuse, then, as above, I request you 
to make such examination instead of him. 
Therefore, I shall state what I conceive 
to be the merits of the case. 

The assumption in 12 Wallace 173 that 
the military order was valid or necessa- 
ry in New Orleans in 1864 is erroneous 
and contrary to the proof in the tran- 
script by the admitted statement of facts. 
Therefore, the assumption by the court 
that "the war was yet flagrant," is not 
true and not applicable as a reason to 
justify the military order in a civil mat- 
ter in New Orleans at that time, and 
said order is a nullity. 

The transcript shows that the war then 
was far removed from New Orleans, and 
was not flagrant, and that peace and 
quiet in civil government prevailed the 



— 248 — 

same as in New York. Therefore, the 
only gronnd in support of the military 
order, necessity, not being in existence, the 
same is an absolute nullity. 

Mr. Phillips, one of the counsel in the 
case of the Union Bank, 16 Wall., 494, 
was present, and heard my argument in 
the Supreme Court, and thought I was 
right when I made the point of peace 
and quiet in New Orleans. He came to 
me and congratulated me. His case was 
pending and he went to work and con- 
vinced the court by overmuch insistence 
on flagrante be Ho, in the Bank case, in 
the fourth book after the 12 Wallace of 
the peaceable state of affairs in New 
Orleans in 1863, and the court re- 
versed its ruling and held the military 
order in a civil matter to be null and void, 
and therefore, that the war was not fla- 
grant quo ad that case. 

The military order in my case was one 
year later, when order was still more re- 



stored, and, a fortiori, it was void. 

There can be no reason why the order 
in the earlier case of 1863 should be null 
and void, and the one of 1864 valid. They 
were both equally void, because there was 
no military necessity in either case. 

The second reason why the case in 12 
Wallace cannot be pleaded in bar of my 
claim, is that it is not res judicata. The 
case in 12 Wallace was brought against 
the State of Louisiana. This is a claim 
against the United States. They are not 
between the same parties. Nothing in the 
case against the State can be set up in 
favor of a new party. Undoubtedly, the 
finding of the court is correct in favor of 
the State, — whether the military order was 
null or not, — because the court stands upon 
the fact that the military had the power, 
and the State was under duress. 

But how can this fact, power, relieve 
the United States from its liability for the 
wrong and injury done ? Therefore, the 



— 250 — 

case in 12 Wallace is not res judicata, 
and cannot be nrged in favor of the United 
States in' its unlawful use of military pow- 
er; and it makes in this point, as well as 
others, in favor of claimant. 



'j 



The statement of the court, — though 
scant from the proofs contained in the 
transcript, — undoubtedly shows that I was 
right in my decision, for which I was 
removed by an unlawful military order 
of the United States. 

The court states that President Lincoln 
had exempted New Orleans, where the 
Third District State Court was held, from 
his proclamation of emancipation of the 
* slaves. Therefore, when, under this pro- 
clamation, a slave filed a suit in the 
court, I was compelled, under my oath 
of office, and under the unrepealed arti- 
cles of the civil code, to maintain the 
exception and dismiss the suit. There 
was no option, — no escape from the per- 



- 251 — 

formance of duty. As judge, I was pow- 
erless to decide otherwise. 

Christian Roselius told me, after his 
return from New York by sea in 1864, 
that he was invited by lawyers to a 
public dinner there, and that while at 
dinner some one asked him about Hand- 
lings removal. He said he answered that 
Handlin was a good sort of a man, 
sometimes right and sometimes wrong, 
■but that in this case he was so clearly 
right that " nobody but a fool or a knave 
could have doubted it." And he said 
he looked down the table and saw Gen- 
eral Banks (who had provoked the re- 
moval) sitting at the table. 

The Third District Court had no crim- 
inal or military jurisdiction. Only civil 
cases were tried there. I had sat for the 
whole business year, and decided between 
five hundred and one thousand cases. It 
was a State court, governed entirely by 
State law. It had no jurisdiction in 



military matters, but concurrent juris- 
diction with other district courts, then 
In operation. 

When I accepted the office, there was 
an implied , contractual understanding 
that I was to do my duty, and was not 
to be abused, while strictly performing 
it, by the military authority, the United 
States, or any one else. The contrary 
doctrine cannot be law. On the contra- 
ry, the civil authority is superior to the 
military authority. Therefore, it is obiter 
in the decision that the same power 
which appoints can remove. 

A private soldier, by military law, 
cannot be wrongfully abused, but he can 
only be dealt with, or discharged for 
fault found after proceeding according to 
military rules. How, then, can such un- 
civilized and monstrous doctrine be main- 
tained that such an office as civil judge 
in a State court is only there at the 



mercy and pleasure of the wrong doer? 
A strange sort of civil service, indeed! 

The language of the court, "subject 
to revocation," is contrary to the proof 
in the transcript. It was not a case of 
revocation. The order purports to be a "re- 
moval," alleging false reasons, as shown 
by the transcript. 

Another objection to the language of 
the court in the decision is that it states 
that the commanding general, whether 
right or wrong, has full power to ter- 
minate the career of a government's em- 
ployee, who is performing his whole du- 
ty. On the contrary, it is here asserted 
that neither the commanding general nor 
the President has power to trample upon 
the rights of a common soldier, much 
less upon the rights of a righteous 
judge. The court held that there is a 
wrong without a remedy. No such scan- 
dalous doctrine was contended for, even 



— 254 — 

in the Dreyfous case. There, at least, 
there was a show of a hearing. 

The proof in the transcript shows (12 
Wallace 173) many other facts, not men- 
tioned by the Court, upon which I rely to 
support the claim both in law and equity. 
As for law, military and civil, I refer to all 
the authorities heretofore cited in the case 
and before the committees. 

But as to the facts. The other district' 
judges resigned on account of the outrage 
against me. Their resignations were not 
accepted and they all held on for four years, 
and each drew $20,000. It is clear that I 
would have drawn the same amount, but for 
the wrongful military order. The act of 
the United States prevented me from re- 
ceiving that sum by an unlawful, null and 
void, military order. 

The proof in the transcript shows that it 
was a State court, the term or tenure of 
which office was fixed by statute at a period 
of four years with a salary of $5000.00 per 
annum. 



— 255 — 

Where is the difference between a case of 
property wrongfully taken or destroyed by 
the government, and a loss by the invasion 
of the personal rights of the citizen ? Is 
property any better than personal rights ? 
Does not the Constitution put the two side by 
side in the same article ? Are intellect and 
talent on the part of the citizen, which en- 
able him to come forward in an emergency 
and aid the government, to be despised and 
held subject to the bauble, the plaything of 
a void military order ? In an emergency 
when friends were scant ? — The Dreyfous 
case is a paragon of justice by the side of it. 
Where is the reason to protect the money of 
the bank by holding the order null and to 
hold the order valid in the case of the citizen 
judge ? If the dicta in the 12 Wallace, re- 
pudiated case, be law, no man would come 
forward in a similar emergency, as Lord 
Bacon said, and take up the chancellor's 
seal, u if it were laid down on Hunslow 
Heath. " 



Most men of dignity of character and re- 
fined principles prefer personal protection 
against indignity and wrong rather than 
protection to property. " Who steals my 
purse steals trash. But he who filches from 
me my reputation takes that which doth not 
enrich him, but makes me poor indeed." 

I did not seek the office. Suitable men 
to fill it were scarce. Gov. Geo. F. Shepley 
sent for me, called me "Judge", and pressed 
me to take it. It was considered and ac- 
cepted as a permanent position during the 
war or the power of the United States, or at 
least while the functions of the office were 
properly filled and discharged. 

I shall ask you to direct your clerk to 
acknowledge the receipt of this communica- 
tion and claim, and to do me the honor to 
inform me what disposition will be made of 
the matter. Your obedient servant, 

W. W. Handlin, 
15 19 Clio St., New Orleans, La. 



— 257 — 

New Orleans, La., March 6, 1901. 
Secretary of the Senate: 

Sir — What, if anything, was done or said 
by Caffery or McEnery as to the appeal and 
protest lodged with you ? They are now re- 
ferred to Roosevelt, as well as my present 
charity " nigger case" and " bull's pizzle." 

W. W. Handlin. 



Sagt Schiller in Don Carlos: u Der 
Ritter Pflicht ist, die D amen zu beschiitzen" 
Kbnnen die Damen so viel sagen ? 



*&' 



— 258 — 
MERCURY. 

American Politics; — a moral and political 
work, treating the causes of the Civil 
War, by W. W. Handlin. 

The above is a remarkably well written 
and temperate work, which has found its 
way North just in time to be history, and 
to disclose proposals for settling matters of 
moment to the Union at the time — 1864 — 
which fate and the sword have now finally 
disposed of. — Quebec Mercury, Feb. 28, 
1866. 



LIFE. 
William W. Handlin was born January 
23, 1830, in Livingston county, Kentucky. 
His father, Joseph T. Handlin, a native 
of North Carolina, emigrated to Kentucky 
when quite young, married, and raised a 
family of two sons and four daughters. The 
subject of this sketch was the oldest. Isaac 
T. Handlin, the younger brother, was a 
lawyer and afterwards probate judge of his 



— 259 — 

native county. He died at the age of fifty- 
two years. The mother of these children, 
Catherine Trimble, was born in South 
Carolina, and was descended maternally 
from the Pickens family of revolutionary 
fame. Her father was a pioneer of the State 
of Kentucky and opened a farm in the 
wilderness of Livingston county in 1805. 
Upon this extensive estate, comprising 700 
acres, which afterwards became the property 
of his parents, W. W. Handlin passed his 
first years up to early manhood, in the 
country schools, farming, acting as deputy 
sherriff and other occupations. Being a 
great reader of history, he conceived the 
idea of preparing for a profession, studied 
Latin and the mathematics at Cumberland 
College and was admitted to the bar at the 
age of twenty -one. Immediately afterwards, 
he made the journey in the winter on horse-, 
back over the Cumberland mountains, up 
the French Broad river, and through the 
States of Tennessee, North Carolina, South 



— 260 — 

Carolina, Georgia and Alabama. Return- 
ing to Kentucky, he determined to emigrate 
to the State of Texas, and he opened a law 
office in Brownsville on the Rio Grande in 
1852, where he volunteered for the defense 
in a slander suit and made his first speech 
before a jury as a colleague of Rice Garland, 
formerly of the Supreme Bench of Louisiana, 
but who, for reasons not necessary to men- 
tion found himself practicing law in 
Brownsville. 

Becoming dissatisfied in a year or two 
with Texas life and taking a fancy to the 
Spanish language, he went to the City of 
Mexico with the intention of perfedling 
himself in that language and practicing law 
in the City of Mexico. Having provided 
himself with a letter of recommendation 
trom Lieutenant Governor Thompson before 
leaving Kentucky, he was enabled to obtain 
at Vera Cruz an introductory letter from the 
U. S. Consul there, Mr. Picket, to Mr. 
Black, the Consul at the City of Mexico, 



— 261 — 

by whose favor he was presented as a law 
student in the office of the Licenciado, Don 
Ignacio de Jauregui. Here, he studied the 
Spanish codes, and supported himself as 
professor of English, giving lessons in the 
College of Mineria and other institutions. 
He took a course of one year in a college 
and graduated at the head of his class in 
the Castillian grammar. 

At the end of two years, being informed 
that he would still require six months study 
to be received as a lawyer in the City of 
Mexico, and meeting some roving American 
miners, he was persuaded to travel across 
the country to Acapulco and take passage 
to California with the view of following his 
profession there. During his stay in Mex- 
ico, he was intimate with General Gadsden, 
the American Minister, though his inter- 
course was almost wholly confined to the 
Mexicans, whom he found to be hospitable, 
refined and cultivated. 

In that city he learned French and he 
was enabled through the family of Mr. 
Jauregui to form many pleasant acquain- 
tances, among whom was that of the poet, 
Juan Diaz de Corvarrubias. 



— 262 — 
... 

Arriving in California, he undertook the 
practice of the law, found the profession 
crowded, became sick, with his means ex- 
hausted. Scarcely a 3^ear passed, when the 
exaggerated reports of the Americanization 
of Nicaragua induced him to accept the offer 
of Edward Quewen, an ex-attorney general 
of California, to form a law partnership in 
Nicaragua, and arriving in that country he 
was duly presented in the city of Granada 
to President Walker, and they immediately 
published their law card. In a few weeks, 
however, the city was besieged, and Handlin 
did good service in the common defense, 
until General Henningsen was relieved by 
a night attack from lake Nicaragua by 
newly arrived forces from Texas and Cali- 
fornia, led by Cherokee Sam, among whose 
followers was John Purvez of New Orleans. 

Being unexpectedly freed from that scene 
of suffering, in which one half perished, and 
the remainder, say 150, for twenty-one days 
were reduced to one spare meal of horse 
flesh daily , he obtained, after some difficulty, 
having remained altogether six months in 
the country, permission to go via Panama 



— 263 — 

to New Orleans, where he arrived almost 
without clothes on the 27th of March, 1857, 
He determined then to make New Orleans 
his home, having become thoroughly satis- 
fied with an adventurous life. 

After some months' study in the office of 
A. P. Field, he was admitted to practice law 
in Louisiana, and from his knowledge of 
the languages he was enabled to form a 
partnership with Major Henry St. Paul, at 
that time a State Senator. Being a good 
democrat, he obtained through his generous 
friend, St. Paul, an appointment from Gov. 
Wickliffe, as special attorney of the State 
for the collection of taxes. 

In the year i860, having realized some- 
thing from his business, he visited his old 
home in Kentucky, and placed suitable in- 
scriptions upon marble over the graves of 
his parents and his youngest sister, who 
had died while being educated at St. Vin- 
cent's Convent at Morganfield. From there 
he made the tour of the North and Canada, 
commencing with the Mammoth Cave, and 
taking in all the principal cities, including 
among others Niagara, Saratoga, Quebec, 



— 264 — 

Plymouth Rock, Marshfield, Lowell and all 
the principal places of note and interest, 
and returning home by sea. He was a con- 
siderable traveler in America, having made 
over twenty voyages in steam and sailing 
vessels. 

The war coming on, he was inclined to 
look upon it as a kind of insanity, and hav- 
ing had some expedience was not disposed 
to do anything that would interfere with his 
own business in leading a quiet, professional 
life. But notices to drill becoming frequent, 
he was advised to obtain a commission as 
captain of State Militia, which would prob- 
ably protect him from any further annoy- 
ance, and it turned out to be true. Retiring 
in the country to the residence of his friend, 
H. M. Summers, he remained quiet till the 
bombardment of the Forts, and arrived on 
the day before Admiral Farragut anchored 
in front of New Orleans. 

Handlin had become accustomed, from a 
distance, to regard the United States as one 
country, and he felt a national pride to see 
the Stars and Stripes float over New Orleans 
again. 



— 265 — 

For two years he practiced his profession 
successfully, when he was requested by 
Governor Shepley to accept a commission 
as State Judge of the Third District Court 
of New Orleans. He performed the func- 
tions of that office during the whole business 
year, deciding over five hundred causes, 
when, in July, 1864, on the argument of a 
motion for a new trial in a suit of a slave, 
which he as judge had dismissed as having 
no standing in court, he was dismissed from 
office, without notice or hearing, by an order 
of Michael Hahn, acting as Governor, who 
falsely alleged that no reasons had been 
given for the judgment, when the reasons 
had been given orally and published to the 
effect that the code had not been changed, 
and that there w r as not even a military order 
order allowing slaves to bring suits, while 
President Lincoln had excepted the loyal 
district of New Orleans from his proclama- 
tion of emancipation. But the fanaticism 
of the hour was such that the judge could 
not be heard, though he had had no inten- 
tion of doing anything which a good patriot 
should not do, and was governed as judge 
solely by his oath. 



— 266 — 

Later, Judge Handlin instituted a proceed- 
ing by mandamus for his salary, $20,000.00, 
which he carried to the Supreme Court of 
the United States and personally argued 
there in 1871, at which time he was admit- 
ted to practice in that tribunal. The case 
is reported in 12 Wallace 173, and, with the 
transcript, shows that Judge Handlin was 
badly treated, though the relief demanded 
was not granted. Caleb Cushing had en- 
gaged to argue the case, but not finding 
him at home and being impatient of delay, 
Judge Handlin was over-confident and sup- 
posed that he would be able to show the 
nullity of his dismissal and that the military 
was subordinate to the civil authority. 

But he had not proceeded far in his argu- 
ment when he saw Chief Justice Chase 
whispering on both sides to his fellows 
(which was not polite) as soon as he found 
that there was a slave in the case (a nigger 
in the wood pile), and it proved to be an 
inauspicious omen. Cushing should have 
made the argument. It was not a case of 
what was said, but who said it. 

In the summer of 1864 (when he quit 



— 267 — 

smoking cigarettes), he visited congenial 
friends, lawyers, in Pinar del Rio, Cuba. 

Returning to the bar, Judge Handlin con- 
tinued to perform the quiet duties of his 
profession and took no part in politics. Al- 
though always a democrat, and never voting 
for a carpet bagger, he was never at any 
pains to disabuse persons, who might regard 
all those as republicans who had been form- 
erly dubbed "union men' ' . But he thought 
the free trade of Cleveland did not work well 
for America. 

Of late years he contributed towards the 
advancement of Spanish culture in New 
Orleans and was a director of the Centro 
Espafiol. The language of Cervantes was 
with him a passion, and he attributed in 
great part, whatever correctness he might 
have in English, to the thorough course in 
the Castillian grammar in El Colegio de 
Comercio, Mexico. 

In 1893, he made the tour of Europe, go- 
ing as far as Pompeii, and though only 
three weeks in Italy, he learned Italian, so 
that when he returned, he read all the plays 
of Metastacio, the Italian Shakespeare. He 



spoke German considerably, having read 
many German works in the original, among 
which was Schiller's chef (Voeuvre, Don 
Carlos. But German is hard. 

In person tall, six feet two inches, with a 
large frame and good constitution. Eyes 
dark brown 



CHALLENGE. 

4i O that mine enemy w 7 ould write a book." 



THE BOOK IS WRITTEN. 



LE D T il 






1 i Many a time and oft ' ' the devil put 
himself in the way of publishing this book, 
but I brushed him aside, u like the dew 
drops from the lion's mane." 



